Among the approximately 1.7 million Americans who suffer a brain injury year, children form the largest category of patients. These injuries occur not just on the sports field, but also in accidental falls and motor vehicle accidents.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children below four years of age have the highest rates of emergency room visits after suffering a traumatic brain injury. For every 100,000 kids in this age group, there are 1,256 children who suffered a brain injury and visited a hospital ER. When you combine this age group with children up to 14 years of age, you have a group that accounts for about one-third of all brain injury victims.

More worrysome, the number of brain injury cases involving children actually increased every year between 2002 and 2006. The number of injuries increased by 62% over the previous five years. However, according to experts, it's not so much that children are suffering more brain injuries now. It's merely the fact that there is increased awareness of brain trauma, due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the heightened awareness of pro football head injuries.

Professional football athletes have come out in the open to talk about the multiple concussions they suffer over the course of their career, and the debilitating brain injuries this can leave them with.  Many veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq have suffered severe brain trauma, and when attention is focused on their situation, it raises awareness among parents about traumatic brain injury. It's highly likely that more children are now being taken to ERs when they suffer a concussion.

California brain injury lawyers are trying to bring about a change in the mindset:   concussions are not minor injuries, and they do require medical attention. The bottom line is that whether it is a mild concussion during play, or a serious head injury from a major fall, you need to take your child to the emergency room right away for evaluation.