Who’s putting your kids back in play?
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – August, 2009 – Run. Pass. Hit. Ouch! NFL athletes are back at it already, and school-aged children are hitting their high school fields as well. While professional sports teams have doctors on-site to tend to their bumps and bruises, who will be looking after these adolescent athletes when they hit the ground hard?
If Michael West, President of the California Athletic Trainers’ Association (CATA), had his way, every high school athletic team would have a qualified athletic trainer on staff to appropriately assess and treat students – from acute to serious injuries like concussions, which can often go undiagnosed until too late.
According to a study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, high school athletes in nine sports sustained an estimated 137,000 concussions during the 2007-2008 school year. Football had the highest incidence at 70,000 followed by girls soccer (24,000), boys soccer (17,000) and girls basketball (7,000).
The CATA is currently developing new state legislation that would require all student athletes who have sustained a concussion to receive proper consent from a medical professional, such as certified athletic trainers, before returning to play.
“High School athletes are more vulnerable to concussions,” says West. “Concussions account for approximately one in 10 sports injuries so it’s important to have someone on the sidelines who knows how to recognize the symptoms and who can assess if an athlete is well enough to return to play or if they need to take it easy or seek more advanced medical help.”
More than stereotypical ankle tapers, a certified athletic trainer’s role goes beyond managing catastrophic injuries: these physical medicine specialists provide prevention, recognition, clinical assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, and reconditioning of illnesses and injuries, like concussions, that are sustained during activity. In some cases, their on-site medical services, both preventative and immediate care, can make the difference between life and death.
With 3.8 million students participating in school sports the dangers of kids getting concussions and not receiving appropriate care isn’t just a possibility – it’s reality – and the consequences can be deadly.
Last year, two North Carolina high school football players died due to second impact syndrome (SIS), a condition caused by a concussion where the brain swells, shutting down the brain stem resulting in respiratory failure. Each had suffered a concussion and each returned to play within only two days.
Studies show that as many as 40.5% of student athletes return to action prematurely, setting themselves up for severe injury. In fact, 16% of high school football players have reported returning to the game the same day they lost consciousness.
“Unfortunately, many student athletes who have suffered a concussion in a game return to play that day or too soon after because there is no one on-site qualified to assess their condition or because kid’s either don’t recognize they are injured or don’t want to admit it and risk being taken off the field,” says West. “As certified athletic trainers’ it’s our job to keep these kids safe.”
Just this May, Washington State adopted the nation’s toughest youth sports concussion law prohibiting athletes 18 and under, who are suspected of sustaining a concussion, from returning to play without a licensed health care provider’s written consent.
The law, named after Zackery Lystedt, a 16-year-old football player who suffered a life-threatening brain injury in 2006 when he returned to play after sustaining a concussion earlier in the game, is the first of its kind in the country. Although Zackery survived, he remains dependant on a wheelchair and around-the-clock care.
California is currently one of only three states without a system of checks and balances to regulate the athletic training profession, meaning anyone can label him/herself an athletic trainer without holding the proper credentials – giving athletes, parents and coaches a false sense of safety and leaving athletes at risk for injury or worse.
About the California Athletic Trainers Association (CATA):
Athletic trainers are health care professionals who specialize in the provision of physical medicine and rehabilitation services, serving as physician extenders in the prevention, assessment and treatment of acute and chronic injuries and illnesses. The California Athletic Trainers Association (http://www.cata-usa.org) represents and supports 2,200 members of the athletic training profession through communication and education.
In April 2007, the CATA introduced SB 284– legislation calling for the regulation of athletic trainers in the state of California. Currently, California is one of only four states without a system of checks and balances to regulate the athletic training profession, meaning anyone can label him/herself an athletic trainer without holding the proper credentials – leaving athletes at risk for injury or worse, disability. In October 2007, SB 284 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
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