Rick Briggs, left, national promotion director for the Michigan affiliate of Operation Helmet, talks with Brain Injury Association of Michigan President Michael Dabbs about their work together serving servicemen and women with head injuries from their tour of duty.

Head Injured Survivors of America will hold its first fundraiser at 3 p.m. May 20 at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi. The fundraiser will be a raffle for a 2007 Hummer H3. Thirty percent of funds raised will go to HIS, with the remainder to Operation Helmet. Tickets are $25 each or three for $60. Tickets can be ordered by e-mailing Rick Briggs at rvbriggsjr@yahoo.com or calling him at (810) 908-1901.

Learn more about traumatic brain injuries at the Brain Injury Association of Michigan Web site at www.biami.org.

Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Rick Briggs has shifted his focus from providing protective headgear for troops overseas to ensuring proper care for troops returning home to Michigan with head injuries. The Brighton man is still director of the Michigan chapter of Operation Helmet, but recently took command of Head Injured Survivors of America, a nonprofit organization that will provide financial and other aid to Michigan war veterans with traumatic brain injuries.

Head Injured Survivors of America Inc. will work with the Brighton-based Brain Injury Association of Michigan, a brain injury support and research center to help troops with head injuries.

HIS was launched last year, but didn't have a clear direction until its founder contacted Briggs. The organization aims to raise funds for research into head injuries and to provide aid to veterans with head injuries. It will also provide educational materials to mental health professionals and families. "It was a natural fit. I already had a lot of contacts in the private sector and the political arena," Briggs said of his new role as head of HIS. "It's all about caring for the troops."

The organization will holds its first major fundraising event in May.

The need for such an organization is great, said Briggs, a veteran of the Gulf War whose son is on duty with the Michigan Army National Guard in Iraq. For one thing, 65 percent of hospitalized veterans suffer some form of traumatic brain injury, such as closed-head injuries and comas, according to 2006 military data.

Briggs said federal funding for traumatic brain injuries is minimal when compared to federal dollars expended on problems such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis. He said annual federal funding for people with head injuries works out to an average of $2.55 per victim.

That's a significant point, Briggs said, considering there were 1.4 million traumatic brain injuries in the United States according to a 2003 report, while there were 176,300 cases of cancer; 51,334 cases of HIV or AIDS; and 10,400 cases of multiple sclerosis.

"It's four times as many people suffering with all the others combined, and it's only getting pennies," he said of funding for head trauma.

Briggs, who still runs Operation Helmet's Michigan chapter, said the Army is almost fully equipped with ballistic lining pad kits similar to those created by Operation Helmet. He said the Marine Corps and Navy have yet to fully adopt the equipment.

Contact Daily Press & Argus reporter Christopher Behnan at (517) 548-7108 or at
cbehnan@gannett.com