Concussion in high school sports

BETTENDORF and RIVERDALE, Iowa (KWQC) – Over the past few weeks, numerous NFL players such as Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Indianapolis Colts Running Back Nyheim Hines have been seen with one of the many symptoms of concussion and gross motor instability.

Allowing these players to return to game action led to a reworking of the NFL’s concussion protocol. In an interview with NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills, he said changes are coming.

“We’re going to make it right,” Sills said. “We take this right to mean going back and carefully reviewing the steps that led to the sequence of events you described. We will also be critical of our own protocol and these definitions and points you mentioned.”

Changes at the vocational level affect the secondary school level. On average, every fifth high school student suffers a concussion a year.

Bettendorf athletic trainer Jessica Rummery says concussions are part of sports, so early detection and early intervention are important.

“If you can identify it quickly and get help to alleviate your symptoms and then get back into the game,” Rammeri said. “I think you’re in a better situation because concussions are part of the sport. It’s something we have to deal with just to protect the safety of the athletes.”

According to Pleasant Valley athletic trainer Jason Wiel, concussions aren’t always superficial injuries. He says initial tests are done before the season so they know what a normal test is like.

“That’s what’s called a hidden injury, you know, kids can hide it, athletes can hide it,” Wiel said. “But what it does is we get a baseline when they’re not concussed. So that tells us they are normal. And then we bring them back. And if the scores are off, if they’re not normal, if they’re down, if they’re, you know, whatever you want to call it, we know something’s going on there.”

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