Perhaps the most concerning thing about concussions is that many times they can be difficult to detect.
This was one of several aspects of concussion education that Dr. Stan Herring of University of Washington Medicine and the Seattle Children's Sports Concussion Program spoke about during his "Concussions in Youth Sports" presentation on Thursday, July 22, at the 2010 NFL/USA Football Youth Football Summit. Dr. Herring is a member of USA Football's Football and Wellness Committee.
"It was important to learn that so few concussions [10 percent] involve an athlete being knocked unconscious," said Youth Summit attendee Scotty Pinson who is the Commissioner of Huntingdon (Tenn.) Youth Football.
Another Youth Summit attendee, Ed Sanders, had witnessed this firsthand. Sanders is the Commissioner of the North Miami Beach Sun Devils Football and Cheerleading program and a Board member of the Miami Dade Xtreme Youth Football League.
Sanders couldn't figure out why one of his players was moving differently. Two weeks later, the youngster told him that he'd been tackled and his head hit the ground in the first game. The hit wasn't big or obvious and occurred in a crowd so it wasn't viewable on film. The player had felt a little dizzy when it happened. After hearing this, Sanders went to the player's dad who took him to the doctor where they found out the player had a concussion.
This is the exact type of occurrence that Dr. Herring wanted to impress the importance of to the youth football leaders regarding concussion awareness and detection. He mentioned "changing the culture" so that coaches and players are encouraged to report their injuries and symptoms instead of thinking they need to be "tough" and keep playing. Early recognition and proper management were his key points.
"When there's a suspicion of a concussion in a young athlete, you need to sit him or her," Dr. Herring said. "By recognizing the initial concussion and treating it correctly, that leaves the best chance to help the athlete."
Proper management and treatment also involve only returning to play once cleared by a physician who is knowledgeable about concussions.
The youth football leaders in attendance were impressed with the information provided in Dr. Herring's presentation.
"I can't put a value on this information," Sanders said. "It's off the chart."
Dr. Herring also recognized the commissioners' and coaches' appreciation.
"I think it resonated with them that they are the front door for this problem," Dr. Herring said. "I asked the coaches to be our partner. They're the eyes and ears.
"If they see an athlete who has any suspicion whatsoever of a concussion, their responsibility is to remove them from play and make sure that they get adequate medical care. I think that it resonated that they were a partner in this effort to keep sports safe."
USA Football and the NFL, the presenters of the Youth Summit, are also key partners in leading the way for concussion education. There have been rule changes and enforcement, better understanding, more education initiatives and new laws such as the Lystedt Law in the state of Washington. Dr. Herring was pleased to acknowledge seeing concussion awareness and education improving and spreading over the past few years.
"I think there's been a sea-shift," Dr. Herring said. "USA Football and the NFL deserve a lot of credit for that."
In April, USA Football strengthened its Certified Coaching Education Program with new chapters on concussion awareness and management, hydration and proper equipment fitting. Health and safety videos on these three topics are also available at USA Football's Health and Safety page. All commissioners at USA Football's 2010 State Leadership Forums received a "Head's Up" concussion education folder and coaches clipboard created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some of the attendees at the Youth Summit have already found USA Football's resources to be extremely useful for their leagues.
"We're pushing information out to our coaches about concussions as soon as we're getting it," Sanders said. "I'm glad that it's coming down as hard as it is since our [USA Football] State Forum in Florida this past winter. We're stressing how to teach proper techniques, updating our equipment and helmets and teaching our kids how to play the game right."
Pinson's Huntingdon league did not have concussion education and management training in place until it implemented USA Football's resources this past off-season.
"I had been searching for information on concussions for a couple of years to educate our coaches, and I found it when going to usafootball.com," Pinson said. "I saw the CDC link on the site and acquired concussion information kits for all of our coaches."
With USA Football's resources in hand, league leaders like Sanders and Pinson can show other youth commissioners and coaches that, just as Dr. Herring said, they are the front door to the concussion problem - and its answer.
