As our summer vacations begin to wind down our thoughts turn to the upcoming school year. Invariably we create a check list to help us from forgetting something important. Pencils – check. Paper – check. Back pack – check.
Concussion Baseline Test – CHECK
Huh? Baseline concussion testing . That was never on the list before. Well it is, or should be on the list now.
Kudos to Trinity Christian Academy in Addison Texas. This school serves as a great example of how to strategically handle the aftermath of concussion among young athletes.
You may have heard the recent NPR story on this subject. For those who didn’t, here’s the condensed version.
A Trinity football player suffered a concussion during a game. For weeks after, he complained that his stomach hurt. He was tired all the time and felt pressure in his head. His doctor gave him some wise advice: No school, no football, no friends or electronics as long as these symptoms continue. The player was also told to be in a dark room and literally, “do nothing.”
Concussion awareness has skyrocketed. And as we’re learning, it’s a good thing.
More school athletic departments are making players sit out following head injuries. More parents are seeking immediate medical treatment when their child suffers a head injury. And more lawsuits are targeting sports organizations at all levels – organizations that in the past, downplayed the serious nature of head injuries. And then there’s the media, where the number of concussion-related stories is growing exponentially.
The jury is still out on what this might mean for high school football. But here’s the back story: On the heels of concussion lawsuits filed against the NFL and NCAA, this month, the same attorney who filed the NCAA class-action law suit has filed a class action suit against the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). And according to a CNN report, the attorney isn’t stopping with one state. He plans to sue every state high school athletic association in the country.