The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association said yesterday that, with the final high school sports season of the 2011-12 school year winding down, it is pleased with the implementation of enforced concussion-education initiatives throughout the state.
“A great many schools already stepped up their concussion-education programs before the new policy took effect last year,” said MIAA spokesperson Paul Wetzel. “Coaches were on this path to increase awareness over the last four to five years as the issue gained more prominence in the NFL and around high school sports in the area.”
At Westfield High, the school’s athletic director, Karen Gomez, enacted strict guidelines even before the law kicked into effect. Athletes with concussion-like symptoms were immediately pulled from games or practices, and required to seek medical evaluations before returning.
That is now not a choice, but policy, as further evidenced earlier this week when the Westfield School Committee voted to approve a policy to protect student-athletes from long-term injury by stressing additional regulations on training students and others to recognize the symptoms of a concussion to prevent subsequent head injuries and any potential brain damage.
State law requires every public school in Massachusetts to develop an interscholastic athletic head injury safety-training program geared to the prevention and management of sports-related head injuries. A report from each of these schools must be submitted by the end of the school year, outlining each of the head injuries suffered through the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons, and the medical attention applied to each case.
For instance, according to Gomez, if any athlete suffers concussion-like symptoms during a game or practice, that athlete is pulled, and is required to undergo a series of medical tests before returning to the field.
A parent or guardian must also be trained on concussions, signs and symptoms of such, and the importance of seeking immediate medical attention. Coaches must also receive training.
“If a parent notices anything out of the ordinary from their child after a head injury, they need to have them evaluated by a medical physician,” said Dr. Stan Strzempko, Noble Hospital Chief Medical Officer.
Strzempko continues to work with Gomez, WHS trainer Jim Daino, and Dr. Brian Sutton, Associate Chief of Emergency Medicine at Noble Hospital to ensure the safety of area student-athletes. Even after an athlete is cleared to participate in practices, the medical staff, the school’s athletic department and its coaches work to minimize the potential for a subsequent head injury to occur.
“Brains in young athletes are thought to be more vulnerable when developing,” said Strzempko, stressing the importance of the severity of short- and long-term effects associated with concussions.
It is widely believed that head-related injuries are treated carefully to prevent “second impact syndrome,” in which an athlete whose head has not completely healed from a concussion suffers a second traumatic head injury, rapid brain swelling, herniation of the brain tissue, and potential coma or respiratory failure.
Some 135,000-140,000 cases of traumatic brain-related injuries are treated annually at Noble Hospital, according to Strzempko. An inordinate amount of money is spent treating concussion patients, he noted.
“It is a big problem,” Strzempko said.
While most people associate concussions with sports such as football, Wetzel said most people would be surprised to know that the high school sport with the second-highest amount of head-related injuries is girls’ soccer.
“Two girls are attempting to head a ball, and of course, in soccer, when you bang heads you’re not wearing a helmet,” the MIAA spokesperson explained.
Wetzel said youth sports and travel teams should follow suit and adopt similar policies in their leagues.
