Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the number one killer and disabler of young Canadians under the age of forty (40). Hospitalization occurs at a rate of 200 per 1 00,000 annually. According to statistics from the Brain Injury Association of Canada, 50,000 Canadians sustain brain injuries annually. In Ontario, 16,000 residents sustain TBI; that's forty-four (44) individuals daily. The leading cause of TBI in North America is automobile accidents (50%), falls (21%), violence (12%) and sports/recreation (10%). Every year in Canada sixty (60) children will die and 5,000 will be seriously injured secondary to bicycle accidents. Long -term consequences of brain injury affect the lives of about 26,000 individuals annually. Twenty-two (22) per cent of people with catastrophic injuries never leave their homes. In Ontario, ninety-two (92) per cent of men and one hundred (100) per cent of women who sustain severe brain injury never return to full-time employment.

Classification of Brain Injury

The Glasgow Coma Scale (G.C.S.) is a practical means of monitoring changes in the level of an individual's consciousness, and is based on eye opening, and verbal and motor responses. If each response on the scale is given a number (high for normal and low for impaired) the response of an individual can be cfetermined by the summation of the numbers. The lowest total score is three (3); the highest is fifteen (15).

Estimated Costs of Brain Injury Clains (U.S. Dollars)

(American Re-Insurance, 1993)