Westchester County Creates Concussion Task Force for High School Sports
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has assembled a Concussion Task Force to address the issue of head injuries in high school sports. The 20-member group of concussion experts includes medical professionals, athletic trainers, and leaders from local schools. The task force will be charged with developing a model program for sideline management and post-injury treatment of head injuries. The program will be made available for high schools across the county to use on a voluntary basis.
Concussion diagnosis and treatment came to the forefront of public concern after a lawsuit against the NFL in 2014 accused the organization of hiding the dangers of concussions from players. In a documentary titled, A League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis, PBS's Frontline revealed the devastating effects undiagnosed concussions have had on ex-professional football players. Former Dallas Cowboy's quarterback Troy Aikman and former Pittsburgh Steelers center "Iron Mike" Webster became the faces of victims of undiagnosed concussions in contact sports, which can cause devastating damage and premature death later in life.
Accordingly, concussion diagnosis and treatment has become an important issue at all levels of competition in contact sports. A form of baseline testing known as the "Impact" test has become instrumental for concussion diagnosis. The test is widely administered to high school athletes prior to a season of contact sports. That way, if the athlete reports heavy contact in a game or suspects he or she might have concussion, the Impact test can be readministered to determine if the brain is functioning normally.
However, Westchester's Commissioner of Community Mental Health, Dr. Mark Herceg, warns that Impact testing isn't foolproof. He says the test to certify an Impact test administrator is not terribly difficult, so unqualified persons will get certified and administer baseline tests to make a quick buck. Dr. Herceg says that one of the goals of the task force is to leave concussion treatment to the experts.
Dr. Ronald Jacobson, the Chief of Pediatric Neurology at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, calls concussion diagnosis the "Goldilocks Problem."
"Too hot, too cold, just right. Concussion is often overdiagnosed, and simulataneously underdiagnosed--not in the same patient obviously. But I think that getting it right is what the answer has to be," Jacobson said.
County Executive Astorino says he hopes to dispel the misinformation in circulation. He says he wants parents to have the most accurate information possible so they aren't discouraged from signing their children up for contact sports. He maintains that sports are healthy for the social, physical, and mental development of kids, and the task force's goal is to make sure high school athletes are safe from permanent harm while they're playing contact sports.
Dr. Herceg said the presence of athletic trainers on the sidelines of sports games is particularly important. He describes trainers as the first line of defensive when a player is injured on the field.
Astorino's Concussion Task Force is part of his "Safer Sports" initiative, which is the latest installment of his "Safer Communities" campaign. Astorino has used the campaign as a blueprint to address a variety of issues in Westchester County including heroin overdoses, youth mental health, emergency response protocols in schools, and campus sexual assault. The blueprint involves the recruitment of experts who develop strategies that can be shared throughout the community.
The task force's first step toward developing a model concussion program will be to sponsor an informative concussion conference on August 20th.
