High school football season is about to start, and some coaches and trainers have a new tool they say will help detect players with concussions or other head injuries.
5 schools in west Michigan are among 70 in the state participating in a pilot program to quickly identify athletes with concussions and make sure they have time to heal before returning to action.
The players are tested before the season to get a baseline score, and if they take a blow to the head during a game or practice, they are tested on the sidelines to detect changes in brain activity.
Basically, it is a quick two minute screen where our student athletes will read numbers off of a tablet,” explains Northview High School athletic trainer Jesse Brinks. “It will kind of give a glimpse into how the brain is functioning.”
Along with football players, Northview has collected baseline test results for soccer players, volleyball teams and cheerleaders.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association is paying for the program.
“We are trying to communicate to the public that school sports are safer than ever,” says MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts. “Our coaches have never been better educated in the areas of health and safety,”
About 10,000 high school student athletes are included in the pilot testing program.
“I’ve been doing this 14 years,” says Brinks. “14 years ago if a kid had a headache, well that was just part of playing football. Now we look at it and what’s behind it. It’s our job to monitor that and make sure it is safe for them to return.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/2015/08/24/pilot-program-to-detect-student-athlete-concussions/32309445/