Posts Tagged: concussion
December 08, 2016
Or an opportunity for significant improvements in safety?
Ian McGregor, Ph.D.
President, SportRisk
Is the writing on the wall for Sport Club programs as we know them? The issue that has the potential to severely impact higher risk Sport Clubs is concussions. It’s hard to ignore recent news reports about concussions – particularly in the NFL, and more recently in the NCAA (check out class action lawsuit report: http://ow.ly/qgQa306BuUu
In Canada, the Federal Government has announced significant funding to develop ‘national concussion management guidelines’: http://ow.ly/hI5x306Dq4t, with the injury-prevention charity Parachute (www.parachutecanada.org) tasked with ‘leading the development of harmonized concussion protocols through an advisory committee that includes doctors, teachers and coaches from across the country’.
In addition, with more and more concussions being reported, and the number of concussion-related lawsuits increasing dramatically, the Insurance industry has taken notice. A major insurer in the North American market has recently made a decision to exclude coverage of all traumatic brain injuries (this would include concussions) for all colleges, universities, educational institutions, municipalities and school districts. This new directive would be implemented on the policy renewal date. A wake up call indeed!
So it’s not a big stretch to realize that this issue is going to trickle down to Campus Recreation – sooner as opposed to later. Read more
October 04, 2016
Lexi Chaput
Assistant Director – Club Sports
University of Michigan
Concussions continue to be in the forefront of sports news. In January 2016, a federal judge approved a settlement in a class-action suit against the NCAA that created new mandates for response to head injury. Whether it is fair and accurate or not, the comparison between Club Sports and NCAA athletics is frequently drawn. The Risk Management Department or University Legal is unlikely to understand the difference – their ultimate concern being the potential insurance claims and lawsuits that could result from an activity. Despite the fact that there is typically a significant difference in the amount of resources (both human and financial) provided to an NCAA team vs. a Club Sport’s team, the risk of injury does not change, hence the need for education and response to head injuries also does not change.
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October 04, 2016
What is a reasonable approach to concussion management in Campus Recreation – particularly in Sport Clubs and Intramurals?
As a minimum, your department needs to develop concussion protocols which apply to Campus Recreation as a whole. A good starting point might be the Varsity program at your school – find out what they are doing and see if their protocols can be applied to Campus Recreation.
In addition to this, it is important that a ‘Concussion Education Program’ be developed and implemented for Campus Recreation, focusing on
Awareness/Education
Recognition
Read more
October 18, 2015
Alison Epperson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Health Ed.
Murray State University
We’ve committed several articles to this topic, but this one comes from my ironic first-hand experience just last month.
I took one of my classes to Memphis for a tour of St. Jude and Ronald McDonald House at the culmination of a semester long service learning project. Because Memphis is a three hour drive from Murray, we rented a shuttle bus for our day trip, which began at 7:30 am.
Sitting in the front row, about 30 minutes into the trip, I bent down to get some paperwork off the floor board and the bus driver hit the brakes. As he did, I face planted into the partition bar in front of me – right at the bridge of my nose / forehead. Read more
September 15, 2014
Ann Wittkopp
Head Athletic Trainer
Central Washington University-Recreation
This article is the first in an ongoing series about concussions and other relevant sports medicine topics in collegiate recreation.
Concussions have frequented the news in the last several years. The NFL and ESPN have made sure that anyone who watches professional football is well aware of the word” concussion.” But how much do we really know about concussions? What constitutes a concussion? What does the peer-reviewed literature say about concussions? Until recently, concussions were only referred to as ‘mild head injuries’; due to misconception of the severity of the injury, they are now referred to as ‘mild traumatic brain injuries.’
As an athletic trainer working in collegiate recreation, I have seen more than my fair share of concussions with varying degrees of symptoms and duration; what always concerns me, however, is the complete lack of concern (and sometimes disregard) most patients have for the injury itself and what it means for his/her health, and potential future. Read more
September 18, 2012
Head Injuries: TBI, Concussion and PCS
What does all this mean and why should we care?
Alison Epperson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Health Ed.
Murray State University
TBI – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov), “a traumatic brain injury is defined as a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain.” The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (www.aans.org), categorize TBI as mild, moderate or severe depending on the extent of the damage sustained to the brain. A person who sustains a mild TBI may only exhibit brief changes in mental state or consciousness, whereas a person with a moderate to severe damage can lapse into extended periods of unconsciousness, a coma, or die.
TBI symptoms — Constant or reoccurring headache; inability to control or coordinate motor functions or balance; changes in ability to hear, taste, see, dizziness and hypersensitivity to light or sound; shortened attention span; easily distracted, overstimulated by environment; difficulty staying on task, following directions or understanding information; feeling disoriented or confused; difficulty finding the ‘right words,’ expressing thoughts or slurred speech.
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