On Monday, we discussed the suicide of former National Football League (NFL) linebacker Junior Seau, but the video above features a military veteran named John discussing some of the challenges he faced after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a helicopter crash during his time in the United States Navy. As we mentioned on Monday, severe head injuries are not limited solely to professional football players, as 1.7 million Americans sustain a TBI every year. More than half of these injuries are the result of falls or automobile accidents. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) says that the depression following TBI “compounds many of the challenges that individuals with TBI typically face after injury.”

Like John in the video, many TBI victims turn to behaviors that maintain their depression, such as abusing drugs or alcohol. The BIAA says that before victims can be helped, the first step is to acknowledge that they have a problem. Once a victim has admitted that he or she needs help, the next step is to seek professional help, preferably someone who is familiar with brain injury and specializes in helping people with emotional problems as well.

Two of the most common treatments for depression are medications and psychotherapy. Friends and family members can help victims by not only expressing support, but also helping victims find TBI resources in their communities. The Brain Industry Association of Florida (BIAF) offers a list of support groups that provide resources, educational materials and technical assistance where possible. As BIAF notes, TBI victims are encouraged to contact several groups in order to find the one that best meets their needs.

As John states in the video, he still has physical pain that he deals with to this day. However, he used a commitment to caring for his children to stop drinking and seek help for his depression. This should be an important lesson to all TBI victims as well as their friends and families. While a head injury may cause certain difficulties that are irreversible, depression is not one of them.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury attorneys

Following the death of former National Football League (NFL) linebacker Junior Seau from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on May 2, 2012, the video above is an interview the Associated Press conducted with Miami neurosurgeon Walter Bradley. While he says that there is not a “clear link between repeated concussions and depression,” Bradley does say how the repeated blows to the head in football tears nerve fibers and accumulates over time. As a result, repeated concussions cause neurological problems and, over time, those problems can cause a person to become depressed. Despite technological advances made in the helmets designed to protect football players, Bradley notes that the helmet cannot prevent the brain from “rocking around in the skull.” He says how “maybe we need to rethink some of these games,” but recognizes that may be difficult considering the number of spectators and amount of money involved makes that easier said than done. “It’s a real conundrum for society, unfortunately,” Bradley says.

“Junior played for 20 years. That’s five concussions a game, easily,” Gary Plummer, a former teammate of Seau’s, told the San Jose Mercury News.  “How many in his career then? That’s over 1,500 concussions. I know that’s startling, but I know it’s true. I had over 1,000 in my 15 years. I felt the effects of it. I felt depression going on throughout my divorce. Junior went through it with his divorce.”

Plummer told the Mercury News that he’s talked to former teammates who have “struggled mightily” not just within a year of being out, but several years. “One guy felt he was wandering aimlessly,” Plummer told the Mercury News. “It needs to come to light that this was not an isolated incident.”

Indeed, just four days before Seau’s death, another former NFL player, Ray Easterling, took his own life after years of battling the effects of head injuries that later led to a diagnosis of dementia. “I didn’t feel like I was with the person that I married,” his wife Mary Ann told the New York Times.

These types of injuries and the headlines that NFL player deaths have garnered leads us to call attention to the depression that often results from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Repeated blows to the head or even just one significant jolt to the skull may result in a TBI and cause a victim to feel severely depressed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says an estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI every year, with falls and traffic accidents accounting for more than half of the causes of TBIs in the United States. On Friday, we will talk about some of the resources available to TBI victims and ways in which friends and family can help a TBI victim deal with depression.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury lawyers

On Monday, we discussed how May is Older Americans Month and began using the campaign as an opportunity to talk about nursing home abuse and neglect. The video above is fairly humorous advertisement for an assisted living home, but elder abuse and neglect is a problem that often occurs out of sight and, thus, stays out of most minds.

The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) says that the best available estimates indicate that approximately 700,000 to 3.5 million older Americans are abused, neglect, or exploited each year. The most recent national statistics for Adult Protective Services (APS) programs indicate that there were approximately 381,430 reports of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation to APS across the country in 2003, but the NCEA notes that “even when suspicions are reported, the outcomes of the cases are difficult to track.”

According to the NCEA, the older population in America is continuing to grow and will burgeon between the years 2010 and 2030 when the “baby boom” generation reaches age 65. The Administration on Aging (AoA) estimates there will be about 72.1 million older persons by 2030, comprising almost 20 percent of the total population and nearly twice as many as in 2007. Furthermore, the AoA also says that the 85 and older population is projected to increase to 6.6 million in 2020, or a 15 percent increase from 2010. The MetLife Mature Market Institute estimated in 2009 that elders throughout the U.S. lose a minimum of $ 2.6 billion annually due to elder financial abuse and exploitation.

So what can you do? The NCEA notes that you can help raise awareness by talking about the issue and also be a “sentinel” by:

• Keeping in contact and talk with your older friends, neighbors, and relatives frequently
• Being aware and alert for the possibility of abuse
• Looking around and taking note of what may be happening with your older neighbors and acquaintances
• Asking questions and listening

One of the best ways we can pay tribute to all older Americans this month is to begin taking a more active role in reporting and preventing abuse, neglect and exploitation of senior citizens.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury attorneys

President John F. Kennedy’s meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens served as a prelude to designating May as “Senior Citizens Month” in 1963. President Jimmy Carter’s 1980 designation led to the annual observance being renamed Older Americans Month, but the Administration on Aging (AoA) says every president since Kennedy has issued a formal proclamation during or before the month of May asking that the entire nation pay tribute in some way to older persons in their communities. As the video above from the AoA demonstrates, there are numerous events and activities around the country in honor of Older Americans Month.

According to the AoA, Florida has the highest proportion of people age 65 and over with 17 percent, although the proportion is over 30 percent in several counties. Older Americans Month arrives one month after Judge James O. Shelfer of the Second Judicial Circuit in Tallahassee refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Florida’s former long-term care ombudsman against the state and a pair of nursing-home and assisted-living trade organizations. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Brian Lee was known as an “aggressive watchdog” and his ombudsman program led a force of more than 400 volunteers who investigated complaints by long-term care residents. When Judge Shelfer allowed his case to proceed to the discovery phase, Lee told the Sentinel, “Now we’re going to expose the underbelly of the long-term care industry and reveal its greedy owners, gushing profits and gutted regulatory oversight.”

Nursing home abuse and neglect remains a huge issue not only in Florida, but across the nation. The AoA’s National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) estimates that as few as 1 in 6 cases of elder abuse come to the attention of authorities, saying, “Elder abuse is an under recognized problem with devastating and even life threatening consequences.” In honor of Older Americans Month, we will talk about why you should care about this issue and some of the steps you can take to prevent elder abuse.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury lawyers

Jaclyn Raulerson was bullied so severely in the fifth grade that she had to change schools. She was teased because of her height, telling the Tampa Bay Times, “I was more willing to take the abuse than to tell someone.” She began to use beauty pageants as a refuge from the bullying and, as you can see in the video above, Raulerson went on to be named Miss Florida 2010. She has since used that recognition as a platform, becoming a sought-after speaker in the anti-bullying movement.

The Orlando Sentinel reported last year that a growing national trend involved parents hiring lawyers and suing school districts. The watchdog group Bully Police USA rated the legislation enacted by Florida in 2008 as “A++,” saying that the measure prohibiting bullying and harassment of any student or employee of a public K-12 educational institution is the “best anti-bullying law written to date.” The site notes that when it began in 2002, there were only nine states with anti-bullying laws. Now, there is only one state (Montana) without one.

Bullying no longer results in just low self-esteem. More extreme cases have involved serious personal injuries or even death. Parents have every right to be concerned about their child’s well-being, and should not be afraid to speak with police or an attorney when bullying involves physical violence. By now, school administrators should certainly be more responsive when parents articulate these concerns, but you should still keep track of any and all correspondences you may have with school officials.

Many children and teenagers are bullied because they seem “different” at the time, like the problems Raulerson faced with being taller than the boys. The way her own bullying experience helped fuel her beauty pageant success could serve as inspiration to countless Florida children who desperately need real-life examples that their best days are just over the horizon.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury attorneys

The video above is a public service announcement put out by the village of Romeoville, Illinois, in regards to “Keep Kids Alive Drive 25,” a nationwide campaign “put an end to deaths and injuries caused by speeding and distracted driving on our nation’s roads.” We are posting this video today because tomorrow is the sixth annual “Keep Kids Alive Drive 25” (KKAD25) Day. Here in Florida, the campaign has affiliates in Ormond Beach, Sarasota, South Daytona and Tampa.

The KKAD25 website notes that 75 percent of motor vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home, and 60 percent of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 miles per hour or less. Furthermore, the death rate per million miles driven on residential streets is almost twice the death rate on highways, according to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHSTA).

KKAD25 is a Nebraska-based nonprofit organization that seeks to change the way we drive on neighborhood streets and also supports families who experience the death of a loved one because of a auto accident. Tomorrow’s awareness day is a fine opportunity to remind all motorists young and old of the dangers of speeding through residential neighborhoods.

While school is not yet out for the summer, drivers all over Florida should use tomorrow as an opportunity to get a head start on improving their driving habits in local neighborhoods. According to KKAD25, one study found that nearly a third of motorists violated stop signs when only child pedestrians were crossing.

On April 22, 2012, WTEV-TV reported that a 9-year-old boy was in fair condition after being struck by a car in Macclenny, Florida. The Florida Highway Patrol said the child ran out from between cars on the side of the road. While the 42-year-old driver is not facing any charges in the accident, the incident should serve as a reminder to all of us how we must maintain vigilant awareness at all times when driving through residential neighborhoods.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury lawyers

On Monday, we began to discuss the 2012 National Work Zone Awareness Week, which runs from April 23-27 this year. The national program now involves virtually every state in country, and the video above is one from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The video features construction workers each offering what they think is the most important thing for motorists to keep in mind when traveling through a work zone.

Of course, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) also has its own suggestions that it offers motorists to help avoid being involved a work zone auto accident:

• Be alert: Expect the unexpected, as anything can occur when entering a work zone.
• Do not tailgate: The most common crashes in highway work zones are rear-end collisions.
• Do not speed: Adhere to the suggested speed limits in and around the work zones. It should also be noted that fines can be doubled for motorists speeding in a construction area.
• Do not change lanes in the work zone: Avoid driving aggressively and always merge as soon as possible.
• Minimize distractions: Maintain focus on the road and avoid talking or texting on a cell phone while driving in a work zone.

While we noted on Monday that the number of work zone fatalities has been declining every year for the past decade, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data shows traffic crashes still caused 576 work zone fatalities in 2010. Construction projects can often lead to lane reductions and traffic back-ups, but it is important for all motorists to remain patient when they encounter such work zones. Try to think of the worker in the video above who talks about the family he has or the worker at the end who says he has already been hit once and does not want to get hit again. Speeding or driving aggressively in a construction zone not only places such workers at risk, it increases your own chances of being injured as well.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury attorneys

This video is for a Maintenance of Traffic course required by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). A few years ago, FDOT released a series of public service announcements to call attention to safe driving in work zones throughout the Sunshine State. We’re posting this now because today marks the start of the 2012 National Work Zone Awareness Week. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has been working with the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in coordinating and sponsoring the event every April since 1999. This year, the awareness week is from April 23-27.

According to FDOT, 2008 marked the first time since 2003 that the number of deaths in Florida construction zones dropped below 100. However, the 93 deaths that year are still too many—especially since many of the accidents that resulted in fatalities could have been prevented.

FHWA said that about 6 million people heard or saw the PSAs released by FDOT. Furthermore, Florida developed its own theme, “Work Zone Safety. It’s Everyone’s Job.” According to FHWA, Florida’s campaign included a new website (www.itseveryonesjob.com) that generated about 30,000 hits and included about 20,000 brochures that were handed out as well.

While work zone fatalities have been declining over the past decade, we must all remain committed to driving responsibly in construction zones to help the numbers decrease even more. On Friday, we will offer some tips for drivers to help avoid being involved in a work zone auto accident.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury lawyers

The woman in the segment of NBC’s “Today” show above is now on her way to state court after being run over by a Volusia County Beach Patrol truck while she was sunbathing on the beach last year. As Matt Lauer says at the beginning of the video, “The beach is one of the last places that you would ever worry about being hit by a car,” but in fact, a 4-year-old was struck and killed in New Smyrna Beach and another 4-year-old was hit and killed in Daytona Beach in 2010.

WJXT-TV reported on April 6, 2012, that Volusia County is now hoping to implement a ban on texting while driving on the beach. The story noted that several beaches along the coast of northeast Florida allow people to drive on them and another man had accidentally run over a 1-year-old girl at Huguenot Park.

While WJXT noted that Jacksonville did not have any plans to implement the same rules, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Dwain Senterfitt told the network that he also agrees with a texting ban for beach drivers. “The Legislature makes the laws, we just enforce them,” Senterfitt told WJXT. “People probably shouldn’t text and drive anywhere. People should drive with their attention to driving. In fact, if somebody’s texting while driving, if their driving’s not good we could stop them for careless driving. We have a statute for that already.”

With April being National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, lawmakers all over Florida should be implementing bans on texting while driving for all locations, not just beaches. The careless driving charge at least allows officers throughout the state some way to ticket distracted drivers, but we must put forth a more comprehensive law to ban distracted driving if we hope to ever reduce the number of otherwise preventable auto accidents caused by inattentive drivers.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury attorneys

The video above is another in the “Faces of Distracted Driving” series from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Distraction.gov website. It features the mother of a 13-year-old Citra, Florida girl who was killed when a semi truck slammed into the back of a school bus that the teenager was riding in. The truck driver was talking on his cell phone at the time and never saw the bus.

This video is relevant right now for a couple reasons. First, April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and on April 10, 2012, the Bradenton Herald reported that a 25-year-old driver rear-ended a Manatee school bus, totaling his Ford Mustang. None of the 11 students on board were injured, but the Herald noted that this is the fifth rear-ending of a Manatee school bus to occur since January. Don Ross, the district’s director of transportation and maintenance, added that there was no evidence of brake marks in any of those bus accidents.

“I’m not saying I know what’s been happening,” Ross told the Herald. “But when somebody says they didn’t see a school bus, with all of the mandated signs and lighting, there’s got to be something else going on.”

We have frequently discussed distracted driving and wrote about school bus safety a couple of weeks ago. While there is still no specific law banning texting while driving in Florida, that does not mean local police will not be pulling over distracted drivers. In fact, using this Manatee bus accident as an example, the Mustang driver was charged not only with failure to exhibit a driver’s license, but careless driving as well. During this month dedicated to awareness about and prevention of distracted driving, officers throughout the Sunshine State should be issuing more tickets for careless driving to make it clear that distracted driving is unacceptable.

Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. – Orlando personal injury lawyers