Colleges Lack Following Proper Concussion Protocol on Student Athletes

Colleges Lack Following Proper Protocols Dealing With Concussions 

 Colleges are inconsistent with following proper concussion protocol when dealing with student athletes who are experiencing concussion like symptoms. NCAA surveyed 32,000 coaches from different colleges across the country asking them about their school's concussion protocol plans.

From this survey more than 75 percent of the coaches said that their school needed improvement in coach or athlete education or better staffing in the sports medicine department on concussions. From the survey, 15 percent of the coaches said that coaches or players had the final say in deciding when it was safe to return to play. The final decision should be made by a doctor or a trainer when it is safe for an athlete to return to play.

Concussion Rates Among Different Sports

 The reason that there needs to be better concussion protocol among different colleges is concussion rates among college athletics and they concluded that there are 10,560 concussions that are stated annually across different sports.

Wrestling experiences the most concussions with a rate of 10.92 per 10,000 athletic exposures. Next is men's ice hockey at 7.91 followed by women's ice hockey with a rate of 7.52. Men's football had a rate of 6.71. These were the top three leading sports that have the highest concussion rates.

Authority College Coaches Have Over Trainers When Dealing With Concussions  

According to a Chronicle Survey, nearly half of the major college football trainers that responded said that they have felt pressure from college coaches to return players to playing before they were medically cleared from their concussion. Some trainers said that they have put some players back in

the game after being diagnosed with a concussion because they felt so much pressure from the coaches.

This is a major problem for NCAA athletics. Coaches do not have the right or the power to force trainers to allow players to go back in the game following a concussion. Head trauma should be taking more seriously because repetitive head damage can lead to long term effects. Only trainers or physicians/doctors should be handling the players with concussions because they are the ones who have the authority/credibility.

The Chronicle found that trainers are afraid to question the coaches authority because then it risks them losing their jobs. It is a tough decision for trainers to make as they must choose between player safety and job insecurity. In this survey some trainers asked to not put out their names so it wouldn't risk them losing their job. One trainer in the Mid American Conference wrote, "Too many medical decisions are made by individuals outside of the medical profession." Two former Pac-12 trainers clashed with coaches over letting players return to play before they were cleared to play. One trainer said, "It was scary." The other trainer said, "It was uncomfortably close to infringing on the well-being of the athlete."

Insight from Sven Pearson (University of Maryland Sports Trainer) 

 Sven Pearson is the head trainer for the University of Maryland baseball team. He has lots of experience dealing with college athletes as he was a interim trainer for the University of Tennessee basketball team. Pearson is a member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association and he is CPR/AED certified. I was able to get some very good information from Sven Pearson as I asked him three questions. In the videos you will be able to see how Sven responded to the set of questions.

I first asked him what is the protocol that he follows immediately after one of his players suffers a head injury and experiences concussion like symptoms. I then asked him how does a trainer know when a player is fully healed from a concussion and can start playing again. My next question dealt with how 75 percent of coaches in the NCAA survey said that they felt that their colleges lacked knowledge about following proper concussion protocol. I asked him what he would do to boost the coaches confidence and improve the colleges knowledge on concussions. 

When asked about concussion protocol, it is clear that Sven Pearson takes his players' head injuries very seriously. He follows all of the safety precautions after the head injuries and immediately takes his players to the university doctor when they experience concussion like symptoms. In order for a player to return safely they must pass a series of testing and once they pass then they must be cleared by the doctor. It seems as if the University of Maryland does a really good job with following proper concussion protocol with their players.

Student Athletes and Concussions 

 A concussion is a change in the brain's function following a force which hits the head. Getting a concussion may follow with unconsciousness and loss of memory and cognitive dysfunction. The symptoms related to a sports concussion are often difficult to detect since it may be symptoms from some other incident.

 Student athletes for the most part are tough and they love to compete. When student athletes get injured they sometimes do not say anything because they want to play and not let their team down. This is a problem with concussions because student athletes try to trick the training staff. The trainers need more technology and findings to know for certain when players have concussions.

According to a 2014 survey, more than 78 percent of college athletes remained silent about their concussion like symptoms and did not tell coaches or trainers. These college athletes said they remained silent because they didn't want to be viewed as weak and didn't want to let their teammates down. They wanted their coaches to think that they were tough and could take a hit. They didn't want to jeopardize losing their starting spot on the team. This is a challenge for trainers when the athlete remains silent and doesn't report concussion like symptoms and can lead to serious problems.

By not reporting concussion like symptoms you are putting yourself at risk for more serious brain

injuries. It is important for college athletes to do this because if they don't it will lead to longer recovery time and in some cases catastrophic brain damage which can lead to death. Repeated concussions can lead to neurophsycholgical impairment, cognitive impairment, and depression later on in life.

Trainers should be more vigilant during games looking out for any little case where a player suffers a head injury. Even the littlest hit or incident can be a concussion. Trainers need to examine players on sidelines immediately after an incident happens in order to be safe. Researchers have been developing new ways to detect concussions fast and easy during games/practices.

Personal Experience Dealing With Symptoms From Concussion 

 New Eye Tracking Technology Can Detect Concussions 

 Researchers from NYU have developed a new approach using novel eye tracking technology to detect eye movements that are abnormal. By finding these abnormal eye movements people will be able to detect the earliest stages of concussions and also determine the severity of the concussions. The goal of this eye tracking technology is to be a device that is easy and fast that people can use in the emergency room and on sidelines during competition.

 By having this advanced technology it would allow trainers and doctors be certain when figuring out if a player has a concussion. The trainers will no longer be tricked by the players. Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD, professor at NYU said, "Our new eye-tracking methodology may be the missing piece to help better diagnose concussion severity, enable testing of diagnostics and therapeutics, and help assess recovery, such as when a patient can safely return to work following a head injury".

This new finding could really benefit collegiate athletes and departments of sports medicine. If more colleges used eye-tracking technology then you would prob see the number of coaches who think that their colleges need to improve their concussion protocol decrease. The coaches would feel more comfortable that their players would be handled properly following a concussion.

Ways to Educate College Athletic Programs About Concussions 

 With concussions being such a big problem in college sports these days it is important that we address this problem and look for solutions. As seen in the video further up with University of Maryland Trainer Sven Pearson, he says that the head trainer from each athletic department should have meetings with every team at the college. The head trainer should sit everyone down and educate coaches and players on the importance of concussions and the severity that they can bring.

 If coaches are better educated then maybe this will solve the problem dealing with them pressuring trainers to allow players to go back into games after experiencing concussion like symptoms. Maybe the coaches will respect the trainers' authority when dealing with players with concussions and allow the trainers to do their job in helping the athlete recover and get back to the field properly.