One of the injuries that someone in New York can suffer while working on a dock or on a ship is a head injury. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, there are several types of brain injuries that people can suffer from. The most commonly known type is the concussion, but there are others and these include the following:
- Anoxic brain injury – caused when no oxygen reaches the brain.
- Closed head injury – the force of the blow causes harm to the brain but the skull remains undamaged.
- Penetrating head injury – this occurs when fragments of an object, bone, skin and even hair are forced into the brain from an object.
- Contusion – the brain is bleeding from the force of a blow, causing bruising.
- Hypoxic brain injury – caused by a lower level of oxygen flow to the brain.
Additionally, people may suffer from an open head injury, which means that not only the brain is damaged, but also the skull. Within this injury, there are different types of fractures that can happen. These include the cribiform plate fracture, diastatic skull fracture, compound skull fracture and depressed skull fracture.
In some cases, these injuries are a result of the initial blow that the head received, but some can happen after the initial damage is done. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke states that it is important for people with a serious brain injury to be placed on monitoring systems. These systems usually measure the amount of blood and oxygen that is flowing to the brain as a reduction can cause further harm. In some cases, people may be placed into a medical-induced coma in order for the body to allow the brain to heal. It should be noted that doctors’ attention focuses on preventative treatment since at this time, there is no restorative treatment available.