SEPTEMBER: National Service Dog & Spinal Cord Injury Awareness month

With about 17,000 new cases of spinal cord injury every year, if there’s one thing we should all be aware of during National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month, is that people can and will adapt to the challenges of living with a spinal cord injury and discover new roads to excel in life. 

And the same can be said about canine companions who live to serve, protect and assist their handlers, thanks to organizations such as Canine Companions for Independence who provide assistance dogs free of charge.

Vehicle crashes are currently the leading cause of injury, followed by falls, acts of violence (primarily gunshot wounds), and sports/recreation activities. Males account for nearly 80% of new cases of SCI and at this time, there are roughly 300,000 living individuals with SCI.

The good news is that more and more new cases are becoming incomplete injuries, largely due to greater awareness in the medical community and first responders on how to better handle a new case as well as new surgical procedures that minimize the damage done at the site of the injury.  The bad news is that the average stay in a rehab center is down to about 35 days.  

At NorCal SCI, we salute the members of the SCI community throughout Northern California and are working hard with our partners to make an impact on the lives of as many members of this community as possible.