A new law passed in June by the North Carolina General Assembly will bring increased awareness to concussions on local ball fields starting this school year.
The Gfeller-Waller Concussion Awareness Act creates a way for coaches, school nurses, athletic directors, volunteers, student-athletes and parents to be more knowledgeable about these incidents and their symptoms.
The new law includes information on concussion symptoms, short-term and long-term effects and medical return-to-play protocols. It encompasses all high school and middle school sports and states that after a concussion, an “athlete cannot return to play or practice until being cleared by a physician, athletic trainer or physician assistant.”
Additionally, the law states, “schools must develop emergency action plans to deal with serious injuries.”
The good news – according to all four Burke County high school head football coaches – is that their players are already in good hands.
“I think that the law will put more emphasis on how the community will review the injury, but for me, there is nothing new,” said first-year Patton head coach Chip Lewis. “Players will simply not be allowed to do anything until being cleared by trainers.”
East Burke High officials echoed Lewis.
“We started requiring a physician’s ‘return to play’ protocol a long time ago,” said EBHS’s Tracy Hefner, a former statewide trainer of the year.
“We are already doing all the things that the law states,” second-year Cavalier coach Jim Ruark agreed. “I don’t see it as a big change for us, but I’m all for it.”
One local trainer said she thinks local head injury treatment, while already good, can be even better.
“It will allow me to educate the athletes, coaches and parents on the signs and symptoms (of concussions), and I won’t be the only one to recognize them,” said Draughn athletic trainer Rosalyn Hart. “We have protocol to follow, so nothing is ever missed, and that will allow me to work one-on-one with the students and give more of an opportunity to make sure they can return 100 percent after watching them from day one.”
Head injuries have been a quickly growing topic in contact sports – particularly football – for the past five years or so. From ex-players who have dealt with dementia and other mental disorders due to continued trauma, to players experiencing recurring head injuries because they come back too soon after the initial hit, the media spotlight has certainly been cast its way.
The new law could have also stemmed from a 2009 Time magazine article that stated 41 percent of high school athletes from 2005-2008 across 100 U.S. high schools polled returned to play too soon after a concussion.
One week used to be the standard recovery time.
“They are going to look at it more seriously,” Hart said. “A lot of times, going to the doctor and being released after a week isn’t going to fly.”
Shortly before the Time article was released, the other side of the state saw first-hand the serious repercussions head injuries can have. A football player at J.H. Rose High in Greenville suffered a concussion during a September 2008 practice. The school’s athletic trainer, who was certified in dealing with concussions, wasn’t at practice that day but a first responder cleared the athlete to play in that Friday’s game.
The athlete collapsed on the sidelines after a hit in that week’s contest and died the following day.
“If you were to return a player that has a concussion before it’s time, it’s a crime now,” said Draughn coach Scott Lambert.
“The law is a good indicator that gives us an idea of what’s going on if an athlete does get hurt,” said Freedom’s Mike Helms. “It (also) gives the trainer some background information pertaining to previous injuries.”
Hart said the new legislation could also be beneficial for athletes from a financial standpoint.
“It used to be physicians that would release the athletes back into play,” she said. “But when you have students that can’t afford doctor’s bills and don’t have insurance, the law says athletic trainers are able to clear athletes to play."
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