Blast Overpressure Safety Act: Enhanced Brain Health and Injury Tracking for Service Members
This law mandates comprehensive changes within the Department of Defense to protect service members from brain injuries caused by blast overpressure during training and combat. It ensures better health tracking through mandatory cognitive assessments and detailed, lifelong exposure logs, facilitating early detection and specialized treatment for concussive and subconcussive injuries. The goal is to mitigate long-term health consequences, including the risk of suicide, associated with these wounds.
Key points
Mandatory neurocognitive assessments for all service members before, during, and after service to monitor brain function.
Creation of detailed, lifelong logs tracking blast overpressure exposure and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) for every member to monitor cumulative risk and refer high-risk individuals to specialty care.
Requirement for the DoD to prioritize minimizing blast exposure when developing new weapons systems and modifying high-risk training by setting new safety thresholds.
Establishment of specialized brain injury treatment programs, including for Special Operations Forces, and formal recognition of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), which must provide childcare services.
Expired
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