|
For years, concussion evaluation has been an inexact science,
but a new test being implemented at Hood River County School
District high schools aims to remove the guess work.
By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
August 20, 2008
The
Hood River Valley High School soccer players giggle nervously,
slide their chins into their palms and try to concentrate on the
computer screens in front of them.
It’s
test day.
Some
of them are visibly puzzled; others let out the occasional whoop
when they get a question right. Whether they get the answers
right or wrong does not matter too much — either way the results
could potentially save their lives someday.
These
girls soccer players are among the first student athletes at
Hood River Valley to take part in ImPACT concussion baseline
testing. The other teams at HRV and Cascade Locks School will be
going through the tests in the coming weeks.
Participants are placed in front of a computer and then given a
battery of questions designed to test their mental reaction
times and memory.
The
answers will be stored, and in the event of a possible
concussion, they will retake the test, and have to come within a
near percentage of their original score before they are cleared
to play again.
Athletic trainer Ed Medina is spearheading the implementation of
the program at HRV this year and through his experience dealing
with concussions thinks that the ImPACT tests will be a great
tool for helping combat one of the toughest sports injuries to
recover from.
“If
they don’t get up to the right percentage, we won’t let them
play,” he said on Monday while shepherding girls soccer players
to a school computer lab to take the test.
Medina said he typically sees six to eight concussions a year —
that he knows about — and prior to the test, figuring out when
an athlete is ready to return to the field has been a rough
science.
A lot
of stuff is coming out on concussions and on what they can cause
in the future,” Dr. Richard Virk, one of HRV’s medical advisors
who first brought the program to the attention of the Hood River
County School District. “This really takes the guesswork out of
it.”
Immediate symptoms of more severe concussions can include the
athlete appearing dazed, confusion, double and blurry vision and
loss of consciousness. However, for borderline concussions it
can be hard for a coach to tell how badly an athlete is actually
hurt.
To
make sure that athletes are getting the right treatment, HRV
will be following a multi-tiered system to clear athletes to
return to the field. Athletes demonstrating severe concussion
symptoms will be immediately sent to the hospital. Once
released, the athlete's primary field physician will monitor his
or her treatment before declaring the player free of visible
symptoms. Athletes must then reach their normal range of the
baseline test, and the results will be reviewed by HRV medical
advisors, who give written clearance for the athlete to return
to the field.
Even
if an athlete appears to have suffered a less severe concussion,
the player will be removed from the game and HRV will recommend
to parents that he or she be taken in for evaluation.
“Concussed people have decreased blood flow to certain parts of
the brain,” Virk said. “The metabolism of the brain is affected
and your brain is not ready to regulate the swelling.”
One
of Virk’s biggest concerns with concussions is that those who
suffer one concussion are at a significantly higher risk of
suffering another, particularly if they return too soon.
A
potentially devastating consequence of returning from a
concussion too soon is Second Impact Syndrom or SIS. SIS is a
rare condition which occurs when the brain suffers a major blow
before recovering fully from the first concussion. Rapid
swelling of the brain can occur, leading to brain damage, coma
and even death.
Virk
hopes that the ImPACT test will reduce the chance of Hood River
athletes suffering a repeat concussion.
“Hopefully this will bring to light how serious head injuries
can be,” he said.
HRV
is one of two dozen or so high schools in Oregon currently using
the impact program, and the Oregon Scholastic Activities
Association is hoping to implement it at
all member schools within a few years.
The
OSAA will not be making the testing mandatory, but intended to
make the program more financially viable for schools that want
to use it.
Peter
Weber, OSAA spokesman, said that the organization is working
with Organ Health and Science University, which works with
ImPACT to bring the test to more schools.
"We
are looking for way to make it more available to member
schools," Weber said. "We'd like to be able to have schools
either not have to pay or to have a significantly reduced fee."
OSAA
participation will help bring the cost of the testing program
down even further for schools like HRV which are already using
it.
The
program costs $1,000 per 300 students and in Hood River,
Providence Emergency Room doctors are donating $250 for the next
three years to help cover the cost and Providence Hood River
Memorial Hospital is donating $500 toward the cost.
The
test not only helps trainers and doctors provide athletes with
better care, it also limits liability issues to make sure that
athletes are not cleared to return to action too early.
The
program is a big leap forward in how coaches and trainers will
be able to prevent further injuries from concussion, and HRV
Athletic Director Keith Bassham is glad to have it.
"It
takes a lot of the guesswork out of it," he said. "Every kid is
different and what we did in the ‘good old days’ isn't what we
need to be doing now.”
Bassham remembers one instance in particular when he was
coaching HRV's freshman football team. In what he called "one of
the greatest football games" he had ever seen, Hood River
ultimately lost to The Dalles-Wahtonka by a touchdown, and the
defeat came with the team's best wide receiver sitting on the
bench after taking a shot to the head in the third quarter. The
decision to sit the player may have meant a loss in the short
run, but Bassham said that after being on the receiving end of
several concussions playing football in college, he is still
glad he made the decision he did.
Medina recalls a wrestling match during his first year as a
trainer where a HRV wrestler was slammed to the mat head-first.
Against his better judgment he allowed the wrestler to continue
competing. Two days later the wrestler was in the hospital
because of the concussion he had suffered.
Neither Medina nor Bassham had any way of knowing if the
athletes in their care were in fact suffering from a concussion,
or how badly they might have been affected. Now they don't have
to worry about the guessing game. The athlete's test score will
have the final say.
Most
of the participants on Monday were not thinking about the
weighty impact the test may have on their athletic careers --
trying to figure out the memory tests and remember the
instructions quickly turned into a game.
For
Audrey Mallon, momentary panic set in when the problem she was
working on disappeared from the screen. She waved over HRV
teacher/coach Tom Ames, who is also helping with the program,
before realizing it had just been a sample demonstration.
"Oh,
fwew, it was only a sample," she exhaled, then exclaimed
jokingly; "Maybe I already have a concussion!"
Trying to match up colors and words, remember words in a list
and organize numbers counting backward may seem like something
out of a kindergarten work book, but the pace and organization
kept the test takers on their toes.
"I
hadn't played memory games in awhile," Bridget Merriam said. "I
definitely think I have gotten worse."
No
matter what their score was, it is a test that their coaches,
doctors and trainers hope that they never have to take again,
but it will be there if they need it.
"The
concern has always been whether we are letting them back in too
soon," Medina said. "Now we will know with no ifs, ands or buts
about it."
|
