Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Gala to Help Families With Brain-Injured Children

The parents of an 8-year-old son who suffered pediatric traumatic brain injury after a 2006 accident, Dawn and Kurt Schessl have become advocates for other child brain injury victims, according to the Catholic Courier online.  The creators of a nonprofit organization aimed to help other families cope after a child brain injury, the Schessls focus their efforts on helping those families navigate the medical and educational systems involved after traumatic brain injury.  The foundation also contributes to transporting brain injury victims from home and school to medical facilities and educating families about helpful resources available to them.  In order to continue the good work, the Schessls have scheduled a Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury gala in their home state of New York to raise funds for the organization.  The event, which will be held at Casa Larga Vineyards from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. November 21, will include live and silent auctions, dancing, and interaction with master of ceremonies Glenn Johnson, Channel 13's meteorologist in Rochester.  Funds from the event will go toward providing schools and families with helpful manuals regarding children's abilities after brain injury.  The Schessls hope to give video resources to teachers explaining strategies for teaching students with brain injuries, as well.

As an advocate for injured and abused children who have suffered brain damage, Chris Keane narrows his legal focus to representing children and only children.  Such a narrow focus has given him the opportunity and experience of working with the best medical experts in the field of child brain injury.  If you have questions regarding pediatric traumatic brain injury or child head injuries in general, contact Chris Keane online or at 888-592-KIDS for free answers and advice unique to your specific situation.

Relevant Link:

Family works to help others with brain injuries

Do Early-Age Brain Injuries Cause ADHD?: The Real Link Between Child Head Injuries and ADHD

Is pediatric brain injury connected to ADHD?  Recent brain injury and mental health research indicate that the answer is YES.  According to the Organized Wisdom website, young children who sustain head and brain injuries are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) when they reach ages 2 through 10 than children who do not suffer head injuries.  The research indicates, however, that the relationship between child brain injury and ADHD is NOT necessarily that of cause and effect.  Instead, the "common denominator" is in behavior, specifically risk-taking.

British researchers conducted the study in hopes of finding out if a head injury sustained before the age of 2 might lead to a diagnosis of ADHD in the brain-injured child at age 2 or later (the condition cannot be diagnosed until age 2).  The results of the study revealed that children with early-age head injuries did have a 90 percent higher incidence of ADHD diagnosis than children in the general population.  However, since children with other injuries (specifically burn or scalding injuries) also had a higher incidence of ADHD diagnosis than the general population, no real cause-and-effect relationship could be identified between brain injuries and the behavioral disorder.

According to the researchers, the study revealed that children engaging in risk-taking behavior are more prone to serious injury and developing ADHD than children with more moderate behavior.  Previous research confirms that ADHD children are more accident-prone than those without the condition.

If your child has suffered a head injury or brain injury and you have questions about the link between pediatric brain injury and other conditions, feel free to contact child brain injury lawyer Chris Keane.  Narrowing his practice to representing children only has enabled him to work with the best experts in the field of head and brain injuries, and he will be glad to provide you with free helpful resources, information, or answers to questions during your time of need.

You may contact Chris Keane online or call 1-888-592-KIDS (1-888-592-5437).

Conference on Child Brain Injuries to Host Nine Experts in the Field

Charleston, West Virginia is holding a conference on child brain injuries early this November in hopes to address the "silent yet serious epidemic" of brain injury to children, according to The Journal online.  Titled "My Child Has a Brain Injury: Information for Families and Schools," the conference will host keynote speaker Ron Savage, president of the North American Brain Injury Society.  Among the topics to be discussed by Savage and other experts at the event are bicycle accidents, abuse, sports, and auto accidents, all leading causes of pediatric brain injury.  According to the article, approximately 130,000 bicycle accidents per year result in brain injuries to children and adolescents, and a total of about 1 million children in the U.S. sustain brain injuries each year, ranging in degree from mild to severe.  Additionally, approximately one-third of all cases of child injury involve injury to the brain.

Those interested in more child brain injury facts and statistics such as these may wish to attend the conference, which is scheduled for Nov. 5 and 6 at South Charleston's Ramada Inn.  Sponsored by the Brain Injury Association of West Virginia, the conference will feature talks from nine brain injury experts.

As highlighted in these statistics, brain injuries can be extremely serious, and children are not immune to such injuries.  If you believe that your child has suffered a head or brain injury for any reason, seek medical attention immediately.  For information on how to receive the best medical care from the experts in the field or how to receive compensation for medical bills and other expenses, feel free to contact child brain injury attorney Chris Keane.

Click here to contact Chris Keane online or call 1-888-592-KIDS (1-888-592-5437).

Click here for more information about child injury lawyer Chris Keane.

Tim Tebow's Concussion Controversy: What We Can Learn from the Brain Injury Incident

In the midst of controversy over his condition and whether he should play just two weeks after suffering his first career concussion, University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow stepped onto the football field this past Saturday to start in the Gators' game against the LSU Tigers.  What began the heated discussions was a hit during Florida's game against Kentucky:  as Tebow was being sacked, his helmet struck a teammate's leg, leaving him motionless on the ground before he was finally able to make his way to the sideline, where he then began to vomit and display other signs of concussion.  After suffering the serious brain injury, the Heisman Trophy winner was taken to a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, where he spent Saturday night and was released on Sunday.

After undergoing balance and memory tests, avoiding reading or watching television (due to a lasting headache), and following other doctor recommendations for an extended period of time, Tebow was medically cleared to play with his team in their October 10th game.  According to coach Urban Meyer, the quarterback understood the severity of his brain injury and took the proper precautions to ensure that he was recovering.  One of the ways doctors determined the degree of his recovery was by comparing his recent test results to that of baseline tests taken in June.  Baseline testing-- now used by many college football programs-- involves a 20-minute computerized test that is used to measure the visual motor skills, memory, speed, and brain processing of the athlete.  When that athlete suffers a concussion, he goes through the same tests so that doctors can compare the results.

What can we learn from this incident of serious brain injury?  No matter the severity of the head trauma, we can learn that sports often lead to serious injuries such as concussions.  Although Tebow appeared to experience complete recovery from his injury within a couple weeks, others do not always heal as quickly or easily.  We recently added a post to this Child Brain Injury Blog about the symptoms of concussions, their common link to sports, and the dangers of the serious head injury.  In fact, a more recent post discussed an incident of fatal brain injury from concussion that occurred during a high school football game.  If your child or teenager has been injured while playing sports and you believe he or she may have suffered a concussion or another type of brain injury, do not hesitate to seek medical care.  For free resources and answers to your most important questions, contact child brain injury attorney Chris Keane.  As an advocate for athletes and other young victims of brain injury, Keane will help you find the best medical care and rehabilitation for your child.

Click here to contact Chris Keane online or call 888-592-KIDS.

Relevant Link:

Tests to determine Tebow's return

Bicycle Helmets & Brain Injury Prevention: Should Helmets Be Required for Bike-Riding Children?

According to the Union-Bulletin Editorial Board, more and more children (at least in the board's area of Walla Walla, Washington) are riding bikes without wearing helmets.  The board believes that the decreasing numbers of children wearing helmets while riding bicycles is due in part to a lack of emphasis on the importance of safety while bike riding.  According to the board's website, children under 12 seemed to wear their helmets more readily when on bicycles about a decade ago, during the time when bike safety was a hot topic.  Should children be required to wear bicycle helmets when riding bikes?  Statistics from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute indicate that they should:

• Bicyclists who do not wear helmets are 14 times more likely to be killed in an accident than those who wear helmets.

• Over 60 percent of bicycle-related fatalities result from head injuries, which are often brain injuries.

• The percentage of bike-related brain injuries that could be prevented by the use of a helmet is estimated to be between 45% and 88%.

Along with sports, abuse, and car accidents, bicycle accidents are a common cause of child or teenage brain injuries.  Any blow to the head can result in a brain injury with serious side effects, no matter how insignificant the injury may seem at first.  If your child or teenager has been injured in bike accident that you believe may have resulted in a head injury, concussion, or brain damage, seek medical attention as soon as possible.  As a child brain injury lawyer who works with the medical experts in the field, Chris Keane is an advocate for injured or abused children, and he will answer your most pressing brain injury questions for free with compassion and professionalism.

Contact Chris Keane online or by phone at 1-888-592-KIDS.

High School Football Player, 16, Dies of Brain Injury From Hit During the Game

A high school football player who was hit in the head at a Friday night football game died from fatal brain injuries, according to The Seattle Times.  Andrew Swank, only 16 years old, was a junior defensive back at Valley Christian School.  The Spokane Valley teen reportedly suffered a blow to the head during the game and walked to the sideline after he was hit, where he then collapsed.  After the incident, Swank was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for his brain injury.  Although the surgery was an attempt to relieve pressure on the brain, the teen was listed in critical condition after the operation and died Sunday.

According to the article, the state of Washington has the most rigid sports law concerning concussions in the nation.  Passed this spring, the Zackery Lystedt Law requires all minor athletes (ages 17 and under) to have written consent from a licensed medical expert on concussions before returning to any game.

If your son or daughter is playing a sport this fall and suffers a blow to the head, do not take risks by putting your child back in the game, no matter what state you live in:  seek immediate medical attention, even if the injury seems moderate.  If you think your child or teenager has suffered a concussion or brain injury (whether playing sports, in a car accident, or elsewhere), feel free to contact child brain injury attorney Chris Keane, and he will help you find the best medical care for your child and answer your legal questions for free regarding liability or negligence.

To contact child brain injury lawyer Chris Keane, fill out our online form or call 1-888-592-KIDS.

CT Scans Only Necessary in Certain Circumstances? | Child Brain Injury Attorney

Many of the several thousand CT scans conducted per year on children who have suffered head injuries may be unnecessary, according to a new study described on the Brain and Spinal Cord website.  Although CT scans have been the traditional way to detect serious brain injuries in children and other head trauma victims, the new study asserts that several other methods for diagnosing brain injuries are more effective in many circumstances.  The research included a study of more than 42,000 children under the age of 19 who underwent different methods of detecting traumatic brain injury (TBI).  Of that group, about 15,000 children received CT scans, but less than 1,000 of those scans successfully detected signs of TBI, even though all the children in the study had been in accidents with serious impact to the head or sustained injuries bumping their heads.

What methods should be used to detect child brain injuries?  According to the article, performing DTI scans and monotoring NSE protein levels in the blood have proven successful in former studies in revealing the subtle brain damage that CT scans cannot detect.  These recommendations should not be misunderstood, however:  in some instances, a CT scan is absolutely necessary.  The new study defined six signs that indicate a CT scan should be conducted:  altered states of mind, unusual behavior, unconsciousness, headaches, vomiting, and signs of skull fracture.  Doctors were encouraged to find one of more of these indicators before sending a patient to a CT scan.

As an advocate for injured and abused children who have suffered brain damage, Chris Keane narrows his legal focus to representing children and only children.  Such a narrow focus has given him the opportunity and experience of working with the best medical experts in the field of child brain injury.  If you have questions regarding pediatric traumatic brain injury or child head injuries in general, contact Chris Keane online or at 888-592-KIDS for free answers and advice unique to your specific situation.

Drowning Accidents That Led to Fatal Brain Injuries | Child Brain Injury Lawyer

The recent loss of a toddler girl due to drowning in El Paso, Texas, added to the year of tragedy suffered by residents in El Paso County.  According to the KDBC 4 news website, this incident of the 4-year-old girl's drowning in her family's backyard pool is the seventh child drowning incident in 2009 for El Paso County.  Among the children lost this year was one-year-old Jacquelynn Holt, who drowned in a bathtub at her parents' house on August 7.  Her father reportedly left the room for 3 to 5 minutes to check Ebay on his computer and, when he returned, found her face down in the tub and not breathing.  Although she was put on life support at the hospital, she did not survive the tragic accident.  Doctors diagnosed her with anoxic brain injury, which results from a lack of oxygen to the brain, and they estimated that she went without breathing for 30 to 40 minutes from the time of the accident to her arrival at the hospital.

Drowning accidents can lead to serious or even fatal injuries, often due to the lack of oxygen to the brain.  Regardless of the cause of brain injury, child injury attorney Chris Keane works as an advocate for children who suffer brain injuries from abuse, accidents, sports, or other incidents that resulted from someone's negligence.  If your child has sustained a head or brain injury and you have questions for a child brain injury lawyer, contact Chris Keane for free answers concerning your unique situation.  The Keane Law Firm will provide you with the resources, help finding medical experts, and support your child needs following such a serious injury.  Keane can also discuss ways he can assist you if you are dealing with an incident of wrongful death.

Click here to contact Chris Keane via the web or call 888-592-KIDS.

4-Month-Old Baby Found With Bleeding of the Brain and Retinal Hemorrhages When Picked Up From Babysitter

A babysitter in Des Moines has been charged with felony child endangerment for allegedly abusing a 4-month-old baby who suffered a brain injury in the incident, according to the Des Moines Register.  Thirty-four-year-old Melissa Watts was recently arrested in connection with the tragic incident, which occurred when she was babysitting little Emiliano Ramirez.  According to the article, the baby's grandmother arrived to pick up the child on September 15 and noticed that he looked pale.  Upon medical examination at the hospital, it was discovered that young Emiliano had bleeding of the brain and retinal hemorrhages.  In order to relieve pressure on the baby's brain, physicians had to drill.  The child is now at home recovering.

Brain injuries are not to be taken lightly, and when they result from abuse, the legal concerns surrounding them become even more complex.  If your child or a child you know has suffered a head or brain injury and you have questions for an experienced child brain injury attorney, feel free to contact child injury lawyer Chris Keane for free answers and advice concerning your unique situation.  As an advocate for injured and abused children, Chris Keane has devoted his practice to representing children and only children in brain injury, shaken baby syndrome, and other injury and abuse cases, and he will consult with you regarding your child with compassion and professionalism.