Chatham-Kent Board of Health to Discuss Head Injuries in Sport
On the agenda for the upcoming Chatham-Kent Board of Health meeting is a report about head injuries related to sport.
This hot topic is being debated internationally as well as in Chatham-Kent. With NHL players including Sidney Crosby, league leading scorer Claude Giroux, league leading goal scorer Milan Michalek, and former Norris Trophy winner and Olympian Chris Pronger, all out indefinitely with concussions, head injuries are being plastered across front pages in Canada and the United States.
Locally, several Junior and AAA hockey teams in Chatham-Kent are dealing with players being sidelined due to concussions.
Attending the Chatham-Kent Board of Health meeting will be a selection of local councillors, doctors, and representatives from local health agencies.
CKSN will attempt to present a follow up after the meeting with news and information regarding their discussion on head injuries related to sport.
What do you think, are head injuries in sport a serious problem locally?
Interesting, but to what end? Can they really do anything that is not already being done?
Increasing awareness for athletes, parents and coaches is an ongoing process, one which evolves as more information becomes available.
The media is now on the bus, and are well on their way to creating fear in the hearts of the parents of young athletes.
I have had 5 concussions (so far) in my life, and only one came during sports. The others came from being an active kid and life experience. Risk of concussion comes with active lifestyle, just like any other injury.
The real problem is follow through, ensuring that athletes (and their parents, coaches, medical professionals) correctly follow head injury protocols and keep the athlete at low risk for second impact syndrome.
I 100% agree Brian. In my opinion, the serious injuries are not coming from the initial hit, rather from young athletes returning to sport to early.
Parents continue to “live the dream” of their child being the next superstar, and believe missing a week or two of competition will somehow put their kids behind. What they don’t realize is they are putting their kids at serious risk. It’s the parents responsibility first and foremost, but the coach must also be responsible for the athlete’s safety. Coaches and trainers are the first responders to an injury, and typically the only adult who truly sees the impact or loss of consciousness an athlete experiences immediately following an injury.
Remember, to be “unconscious” does not mean you have blacked out, eyes closed etc, it means you’ve lost awareness.
We’ll go back to the huge debate by using Crosby as an example. It wasn’t the first hit, and he didn’t even suffer serious symptoms from the first hit. It was his early return and the second impact that put him out.
Parents should be more aware of this, because I see many young athletes returning to play when they should be no where near the field of competition.
I just want to point out that head injuries can occur with no apparent loss of conciousness.
As a coach, it’s important for me to monitor players throughout the game as well as after big hits. If I see signs of distress the player must come off. I also require the player and the parents to see a Doctor, and bring me a clean bill of health before I allow that player to practice of play. This is sometimes a frustrating process, because the player wants to play, the parents want them to play, and I’m not convinced that the Doctor has made the right decision.
It is a challenge to spot those signs, but I have made an effort to educate my players and their parents. Sometimes they are the ones who spot the signs for me.
It’s only a game, and these young people have the rest of their lives to live.
I would encourage all parents and coaches to go to http://www.thinkfirst.ca. This website was provided to us by an emergency room physician after 2 non sports related head injuries. The site gives much needed information to parents how a seemingly harmless hit to the head could still bring concussion like symptoms that should never be ignored. Information is given to coaches about the safe progression back to play after a head injury. I would urge coaches not to give in to parents and kids about returning to play to early. Basically symptom free including headaches or any concussion like symptoms for 2 weeks after the injury signals return to light activity. If light activity (non impact) causes headaches then you need to return to full rest for 2 weeks. Activity levels are increased at 2 week intervals.
As a Coach of introduction to contact hockey we stress alot of time on how to absorb a check. There is more value in protecting ourselves from injury than there is in creating the “next big hit”. Concussions are happening everyday now. I sat recently with several professionals in the Psychology field and their message was the same….we are concentrating on the wrong doing instead of actions/reactions. Hear me out….if my son is being bullied, do I go to the school and say Bullying is wrong and not tolerated? Or, do I sit down with my son and prepare him on how to emotionally handle the incident? We as parents, coaches, instructors have overprotected our children instead of raising them with the mechanisms or tools in the toolbox to handle life.