Concussion Safety Center

Evaluating and managing concussions starts with the recognition that the athlete has actually suffered a concussion. A concussion should be suspected when an athlete receiving a direct or indirect acceleration forces to the head which causes him to experience any post-concussion signs or symptoms, including but not limited to loss of consciousness (LOC) and either of the forms of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA): anterograde amnesia (reduced ability to form new memories) or retrograde amnesia (partial or total loss of ability to recall events occuring immediately prior to brain injury)(RGA). If any of such symptoms or problems is present, a head injury should be suspected and appropriate management, including monitoring for deterioration, begun.

Because one of the keys to keeping athletes safe when it comes to concussion is education, a concussion education and safety meeting should be held for parents and athletes should be held before every season. Ideally, the meeting should include presentations by medical doctors, former athletes, and parents of concussed current or former athletes.

Despite efforts by MomsTeam, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and others to educate athletes, parents, and coaches about concussions in sport and the dangers they pose, and increased media coverage of the subject prompted by the deaths of high-profile former NFL stars and the disabling of numerous other football players from the long-term effects of multiple concussions, myths and misconceptions about concussions still abound.

The question of when it is safe for your child to return to the playing field after suffering a concussion is one that continues to vex team doctors, athletic trainers, and other sports medicine practitioners. To help parents understand how the different approaches to concussion management currently in use are applied, consider the classification of concussion and return-to-play advice using three real world concussion scenarios.