Annals of Youth Concussion Bureaucracy: Matt Chaney Covers the Waterfront
‘Fan Accountability for Health of Performers’ (full text from Wrestling Observer website)
August 4, 2011Muchnick Flashback: 2003 Los Angeles Times Magazine Article ‘Welcome to Plantation Football’
August 5, 2011Author-blogger Matt Chaney (http://blog.4wallspublishing.com/), one of the smartest and least inhibited commentators on both concussions and steroids, passes along this early roundup of the new high-school-traumatic-brain-injury-liability-mitigation paper mill.
Alabama
WSFA 12 News in Montgomery reports that Edgewood Academy coach Bobby Carr said he supports the new concussion law, which he feels puts the student athlete in the best care while removing the legal burden from the coaching staff. “It protects coaches. That’s why it’s great to have a doctor on the sideline.” Dr. Martin Wybenga, team physician for Prattville High, adds: “I feel we are fortunate, we are a large school. It’s much more difficult for smaller schools, like others across Autauga County. I’m not sure how they are going to deal with this and find medically trained people, someone to look out for the kid’s health and well being.”
http://www.wsfa.com/story/15197494/2011/08/02/new-concussion-law-shakes-changes-into-place
Connecticut
Ctwatchdog.com reports that every coach there, on pain of “civil liability or disciplinary action,” must take a training course on concussions, review the training materials yearly, and complete a refresher course five years after the initial training course.
http://ctwatchdog.com/2011/08/02/ct-school-coaches-learning-about-head-injuries
Illinois
The Bloomington Pantagraph reports that at Bloomington High School, an athlete trying out for the football team is advised to bring, in addition to an “IHSA Concussion form,” “IHSA Performance-Enhancing Drug test form,” and insurance waiver/parent permit form, his completed “football tackling form.”
Massachusetts
The Boston Globe reports that the new state law there has necessitated these steps:
* Parents, players, coaches, school nurses, volunteers, and others involved with team sports must participate in a state-approved training program each year aimed at teaching people to recognize the symptoms of concussions and understand the risks of playing without proper rest and recuperation. One way schools can cover this requirement is by including these training materials in parent meetings.
* Before every season, student-athletes must file a history of head injuries to be reviewed by the school nursing staff.
* Students who suffer a head injury or suspected concussion during practice or competition must sit out the rest of the day and be cleared by a doctor before returning to play. The goal, said Dr. Lauren Smith, the public health department’s medical director, is to avoid attempts at sideline diagnosis.
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/08/01/new_rules_for_the_school/?s_campaign=8315
New Jersey
Bergen County’s The Record reports that the Valley Hospital Sports Institute in Ridgewood is offering the ImPACT Concussion Management Test – “scientifically validated” and “suitable for athletes ages 12 and older” – “to assist parents and coaches in evaluating young athletes with a suspected concussion.” Cost: $25 for the “20- to 30-minute neurocognitive test battery.”
http://www.northjersey.com/news/126641473_Know_the_risks_of_concussions_in_youth_sports.html