00Enrolled HCR 31                                                                                                         
01 Proclaiming June 2004 as Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month.                                                        
02                                       _______________                                                                   
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
04      WHEREAS brain injury is a serious, national public health epidemic affecting at least                            
05 5,300,000 Americans; and                                                                                                
06      WHEREAS, every 21 seconds, someone in the United States will sustain a traumatic                                 
07 brain injury, which equals more than 4,000 people daily; and                                                            
08      WHEREAS, each year, at least 50,000 Americans die and 80,000 Americans                                           
09 experience the onset of life-long disabilities as a result of sustaining a brain injury; and                            
10      WHEREAS, each year at least 600 Alaskans receive acute care for trauma related to                                
11 brain injuries, 150 Alaskans die from brain injury, and approximately 190 Alaskans                                      
12 experience the beginning of life-long disabilities requiring marked adaptations to daily                                
13 functioning as a result of sustaining a brain injury; and                                                               
14      WHEREAS prevention is the only known cure; and                                                                   
15      WHEREAS the mission of the Alaska Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board and                                      
16 the Brain Injury Association of America is to create a better future through brain injury                               
17 prevention, research, education, and advocacy; and                                                                      

01      WHEREAS, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the                                 
02 Health Resources and Services Administration, the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center,                             
03 the Brain Injury Association of America, and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority strive                            
04 to increase brain injury awareness, thus making prevention and safety measures part of the                              
05 American culture in an effort to decrease the number of brain injuries;                                                 
06      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature proclaims the month of                                          
07 June 2004 as Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month; and be it                                                          
08      FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges schools, community                                      
09 groups, and other public and private agencies and individuals to observe Traumatic Brain                                
10 Injury Awareness Month with appropriate activities that increase the public's awareness of                              
11 traumatic brain injury, the leading causes of traumatic brain injury, and ways of preventing                            
12 traumatic brain injury.