Legislature(2003 - 2004)
02/26/2004 03:07 PM House HES
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES
STANDING COMMITTEE
February 26, 2004
3:07 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Peggy Wilson, Chair
Representative Carl Gatto, Vice Chair
Representative John Coghill
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Kelly Wolf
Representative Sharon Cissna
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Mary Kapsner
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 31
Proclaiming March 2004 as Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness
Month.
- MOVED CSHCR 31(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HCR 31
SHORT TITLE: TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AWARENESS MONTH
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) MCGUIRE
02/16/04 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/16/04 (H) HES
02/26/04 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE LESIL McGUIRE
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As sponsor of HCR 31, presented the bill
and answered questions.
RICHARD WARRINGTON, Member
Alaska State Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HCR 31.
NANCY BURKE, Program Officer
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
Department of Revenue
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HCR 31.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 04-15, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR PEGGY WILSON called the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:07 p.m.
Representatives Wilson, Gatto, Wolf, Seaton, and Cissna were
present at the call to order. Representative Coghill joined the
meeting as it was in progress.
HCR 31-TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AWARENESS MONTH
Number 0050
CHAIR WILSON announced that the only order of business would be
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 31, Proclaiming March 2004 as
Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month.
Number 0102
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO moved to adopt CSHCR 31, Version 23-
LS1749\D, Utermohle, 2/24/04, as the working document. There
being no objection, Version D was adopted as the working
document.
Number 0145
REPRESENTATIVE LESIL McGUIRE, Alaska State Legislature, as
sponsor of HCR 31, presented the bill and answered questions.
She told the committee that traumatic brain injury has touched
the lives of both her staff member, Ryan Makinster, and herself.
Today Representative Berkowitz made comments on the floor that
he questions why the legislature does resolutions [such as
this], that it does not make any sense and the legislature
should simply fund the programs, she said. Representative
McGuire agreed that there is some merit to his statement;
however, some of the things that are highlighted in resolutions
can be followed up with some funding from different programs.
Representative McGuire explained that the legislature highlights
a particular issue that it is important for people to become
aware of. For example, the legislature has the opportunity to
bring to light issues like [the importance of] breast cancer
[screening], avalanche preparedness, and many other things that
people do not take time out of their lives to think about unless
there has been a some personal impact [on their lives].
Number 0228
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE told the members that Alaska is one of
the states most affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) because
it is a young state with a lot of very active people out doing
all types of activities including hiking, skiing, motorcycle
riding, and other high-risk activities. The younger a person
is, generally, the more high-risk the activities [that are
engaged in]. That is why this [Traumatic Brain Injury]
Awareness Month is even more important in a state like Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE said that once this bill passes, she and
Ryan [Makinster] will be working to raise awareness through a
variety of methods. She said that the sad fact is that many
traumatic brain injuries are preventable. Some [ways of
preventing TBI] are wearing helmets, driving the speed limit,
and wearing a seatbelt.
Number 0341
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE shared that she has a very personal
connection to traumatic brain injury. Her brother was in a
head-on collision on the Seward Highway when he was 17 years
old. He has a traumatic brain injury. It changed her family's
life dramatically. He was a National Merit Scholar, president
of his class, a wrestler, and on his way to the same college
that she was attending. Overnight it changed his whole life.
He was wearing a seatbelt, she said. The accident occurred back
when the Seward Highway wasn't as wide as it is now, and as he
came around that hairpin turn, [traveling] a bit over the line,
there was a collision with a motor home traveling in the other
direction. Even wearing a seatbelt is not enough, she stated.
For a long time it was not known if her brother would live.
Jason was in a coma for three months. Most people believe that
when someone is in a coma, he/she just wakes up. It is not like
that at all. She commented that both Chair Wilson and
Representative Gatto know that is not the way it works at all,
since they both work in fields [where they have had firsthand
experience with TBI victims].
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE explained that there are not a lot of
services available for traumatic brain injury victims. In fact,
there is not one single place in the state of Alaska that
provides rehabilitation services. There is a ward in Providence
Hospital that can help if the TBI victim is at a more advanced
stage with walking, she said. Representative McGuire explained
that once someone has a severe traumatic brain injury, like her
brother, the person has to learn how to go to the bathroom, how
to tie shoes, and how to speak, for example. Her brother ended
up going to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington.
Many Alaskans have the good fortune to have insurance so they
can go there, but many more do not. Representative McGuire
explained that Jason's insurance ran out just as he was out of
diapers and learning to tie his shoes. She said she could not
imagine where Jason would be today if her father had not had a
successful medical practice, but she suspects he would be in an
institution, where a lot of TBI victims end up.
Number 0517
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE announced that on March 7th and 8th there
will be the first-ever Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness
Conference in Anchorage. There will be nurses, doctors, and a
rehabilitation specialist from the Lower 48, who will be coming
up to discuss some things that can be done to make resources
more available to TBI victims and their families. She said she
believes it is timely to have this resolution and hopes it will
generate discussion on the part of families with young children
and teenagers in particular. Some of the victims in the support
group in Anchorage are actually 50-year-old men and women who
have had careers and suddenly their lives were changed. In some
cases these people were the sole provider of a family, so this
has changed the entire economic structure of a family.
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE added that there are many social aspects
that result from a traumatic brain injury. For instance, when
someone has broken his/her arm there is the cast on the arm and
people understand that the person will not be able to carry the
same load of books he/she might have before. However, when
someone is a victim of TBI, it is unknown what is going on
inside the mind, she said. If the frontal lobe is injured, the
person may lose all the things that are taken for granted; for
example, judgment on when to close one's mouth, when to be
motivated, when to go to bed, and when to use the bathroom at an
appropriate time.
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE told the members that she has been
waiting for an opportunity to do something for her brother in
her legislative career. It is a small thing and she hopes the
members will support it.
Number 0681
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA shared an experience she had when going
door-to-door during the campaign. A woman asked her to come
into her home. Representative Cissna said she was very nicely
dressed, probably an executive in her professional life. The
living room had been taken over by a huge, complicated bed. The
young person in the bed was her 22-year-old son, who had been
injured in a motorcycle accident. He had not been wearing a
helmet. She said the boy had both a spinal cord injury and TBI.
There was no one there, really, she commented. The woman had
given up her job and had just enough family nearby that she was
relieved two times per week. This boy had to be taken care of
every minute of every day. The woman slept on the couch beside
him and had been doing this for months. There would be a couple
of hours when she would get time to run out to get groceries.
Representative Cissna pointed out that with TBI, it is not just
the injured person [who is impacted]; it can be many people in
the family whose lives are changed.
Number 0842
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE replied that Representative Cissna makes
a very good point. It is important to raise awareness at many
different levels. She said the first level is prevention. For
instance, in her brother's case, there were no airbags. The
people on the scene were certain that had there been an airbag,
Jason would not have had the brain injury. She said it is
important to educate younger men of the importance of using
helmets and seatbelts. Many parents look forward to getting
their sons to the age of 25 safe and sound. Their sons may make
some mistakes after that, but at least they will have all their
faculties.
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE said the second part of this awareness
plan is determining what can be done for a family that has this
happen. She said that she found that in Alaska there was not
one single book and no person to contact, and her family did not
know where to go. Her father is a physician and her mother is a
highly educated person. They were overwhelmed and decisions had
to be made very quickly about treatment. Representative McGuire
told the members an important part of the awareness plan is
making the community aware of the resources available to them.
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE explained that the final part of this
plan is the vocational training necessary to help a TBI victim
who does have a level of functioning to learn how to become a
part of society again. She said that it is known that anyone
with a disability who can be put back to work develops a sense
of self-worth. Representative McGuire told the members that she
is proud to say that her brother is not on public assistance; he
has a job at Fred Meyer's that he has had for seven years. It
is a far cry from the lawyer he wanted to be, but he gets up
every day, goes to work, and makes a wage.
Number 0995
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE said that one of the things that is being
considered is using some of the nonprofit resources to help make
employers aware of some of the advantages of hiring people with
disabilities. Another important [part of this plan] is making
the TBI victims aware of some of the vocational training centers
that are available in Alaska.
Number 1007
CHAIR WILSON announced for the record that Representative
Coghill has joined the meeting.
Number 1029
RICHARD WARRINGTON, Member, Alaska State Traumatic Brain Injury
Advisory Board, testified in support of HCR 31. He told the
members that he is a 25-year survivor of a traumatic brain
injury and is very happy to hear that Representative McGuire is
sponsoring HCR 31. He said that while he is glad that Traumatic
Brain Injury Awareness Month is in April, he wants the
legislature to know that the U.S. Congress recognizes October as
the national TBI awareness month. Last year the Kenai Peninsula
Borough mayor, Dale Bagley, proclaimed October as TBI awareness
month. Mr. Warrington suggested changes in the language of HCR
31.
Number 1198
CHAIR WILSON requested that Mr. Warrington fax the committee a
copy of his suggested changes, which the committee will include
with the bill when it goes to the next committee of referral.
MR. WARRINGTON announced that the 8th Annual Brain Injury
Awareness Walk and Barbecue will be held on the first Saturday
following the Memorial Day weekend. It will be on June 5th,
registration begins at 10:30 a.m., and the walk starts at 11
a.m. The walk's course goes through beautiful downtown Kenai to
the softball park pavilion, where there will be a barbecue, he
said.
MR. WARRINGTON summarized his comments by sharing statistics
from the World Health Organization, which says that there have
been more deaths in the last 12 years due to brain injury than
from all the wars the United States has fought over those 12
years.
Number 1231
NANCY BURKE, Program Officer, Alaska Mental Health Trust
Authority, Department of Revenue, testified in support of HCR
31. She told the members that she is currently working with an
advisory board that is attempting to develop a statewide
service-delivery mechanism for individuals with traumatic brain
injury. Formerly, she said, she was the director of an agency
that provided direct services to individuals with brain
injuries. Ms. Burke implored the members to support this bill
and help with the education efforts that are underway.
Number 1286
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON commented that he is doing his part by
wearing his helmet while riding his motor scooter to work at the
capitol.
CHAIR WILSON noted that there is a zero fiscal note.
Number 1310
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to report CSHCR 31, Version 23-
LS1749\D, Utermohle, 2/24/04, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being
no objection, CSHCR 31(HES) was reported out of the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee meeting
was adjourned at 3:29 p.m.
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