Schools

New Virginia Law: Mandatory Concussion Training for Parents, Student-Athletes

25-minute course to educate families, coaches, athletes on concussions.

MANDATORY FOR THE 2011-2012 SCHOOL YEAR. Fairfax County Public Schools ATHLETIC TRAINING PROGRAM.

WELCOME TO THE FCPS CONCUSSION EDUCATION PROGRAM. VIRGINIA CONCUSSION and BRAIN INJURY STATUTE

This is the reminder Langley High School parents received as tryouts started Monday. Parents and their kids had to complete the course to qualify for team tryouts.

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Senate Bill 652, which went into effect July 1, says that student-athletes, their parents and coaches must learn about concussion-related symptoms. Student-athletes and their parents will have to take a 25-minute concussion course given through the National Federation of State High School Associations.

"The new law requires a sign-off that they have been made aware of the signs of concussions," said Tom Dolan, assistant director of the Virginia High School League, the governing body of the commonwealth’s 312 public high school athletic programs. "Anytime you can give information to parents and athletes, that's a great thing. Our concern at the VHSL is helping the member schools get on board."

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All student-athletes on any interscholastic team must adhere to the new law, passed in 2010, regardless of the sport. Student-athletes and their parents must complete an online informational session and sign off before the start date of the sport.

There have been several studies on concussions and their long- and short-term effects. Common symptoms of concussions are, but aren’t limited to: headaches, sensitivity to light and sound, confusion, loss of consciousness and a dazed appearance, according to sportsconcussions.org. According to a December 2010 story in Science Daily, 544 concussions were recorded by the High School Reporting Information Online surveillance system during the 2008-2009 school year.

For some Virginia schools, adhering to this new law won’t be anything new. Tom Horn, athletic director and head football coach at in the City of Falls Church, said the school has offered the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) testing program to their athletes for years.

The program, developed in the early 1990s, is a 20-minute test that has become a standard tool used in comprehensive clinical management of concussions for athletes of all ages, according to their website. Horn said the program has helped coaches monitor student athletes whom have been concussed as to not allow them back onto the field of competition too soon.

"Symptoms going away doesn't mean you're ready to play," Horn said. "In the past we've offered this but now it's mandated."

Horn said the courses coaches have gone through at Mason are the same ones that parents and student-athletes will go through this year. A passage from a letter that went out to the parents of student-athletes at Mason about the testing read: "The exam takes approximately 20 minutes and is non-invasive. The program is essentially set up in a 'videogame' format. The program, in effect, gives the athlete's brain a preseason physical for cognitive and visual-processing abilities. It tracks information such as memory, reaction time, processing speed, and concentration."

Dolan said educating people about concussions and their effects is one thing, but getting accurate data on them is another. He said getting accurate information about the number of concussions suffered by VHSL athletes is almost impossible because of the mentality of athletes to want to compete. He is hopeful with the new law that student athletes, their parents and coaches will be able to identify concussions better.

"What you get as far as the numbers stated doesn't reflect the actual number," Dolan said. "It's good to know but they don't give an accurate number."


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