According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were approximately 2.9 million traumatic brain injury-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States in 2014.

Effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be short-term or long-term, and include impaired thinking or memory, movement, vision or hearing, or emotional functioning, such as personality changes or depression.

Currently, between 3.2 million and 5.3 million persons are living with a TBI-related disability in the United States.

About 7 or 8 percent of Americans will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives, and about 8 million adults have PTSD during the course of a given year.

TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the signature injuries of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to the Department of Defense, 383,000 men and women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan sustained a brain injury while in the line of duty between 2000 and 2018.

Approximately 13.5 percent of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans screen positive for PTSD, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs.

About 12 percent of Gulf War Veterans have PTSD in a given year while about 30 percent of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime.

Physical signs of TBI can include motor impairment, dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, impaired depth perception, or impaired verbal memory, while physical signs of PTSD can include agitation, irritability, hostility, hypervigilance, self-destructive behavior, fear, severe anxiety, or mistrust.

Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often overlap with physical signs of alcohol or drug impairment, which complicate a first responder’s ability to quickly and effectively identify an individual’s condition.”