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The Brain Trauma Foundation, and its BTF Learning Portal, which provides continuing education for medical professionals, are an excellent  resource for anyone concerned with preventing and treating head injuries.The BTF Learning Portal’s courses are CME-accredited in most, if not all, states. To their credit, BTF courses seem to be priced so as to permit them to continue their work rather than, as is sometimes the case, a revenue stream which can lead a non profit off-course, we we’ve seen in other cases.The BTF research led to treatment guidelines for TBI. According to the CDC, the CDC analysis

found that that if the BTF guidelines were used more routinely, there would be a 50% decrease in deaths, improved quality of life and a savings of $288 million a year in medical and rehabilitation costs.

According to the study, “Using a Cost-Benefit Analysis to Estimate Outcomes of a Clinical Treatment Guideline: Testing the Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines for the Treatment of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury,” just published in the December issue of the Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, when the BTF guidelines are followed, the proportion of patients with good outcomes increased substantially from 35% to 66%, and the proportion of patients with poor outcomes decreased from 34% to 19%.

Link to BTF press release. (We’ll update this shortly with a direct link to the CDC statement).