Concerns have been raised over a recent high school football game, between L’Odysee High School and the Tantramar Titans. Nine players were injured and had to be pulled from the game at half time. Four of those players were diagnosed with concussions.
Dr. Richard Louis is the Injury Prevention Coordinator with the New Brunswick Trauma Program. He says they have developed a tool that can be used by sports organizations to help in assessing of concussions signs and symptoms, and it is available to all sports organizations across the province, “Many provincial sports organizations are currently looking at their concussion policies. On our side, we are there to support and provide resources so that their policy is in line with the latest evidence based information.”
Once every three to four years, there is an International conference on concussions that looks at the latest evidence based information with regards to the assessment and management of concussions. Dr. Louis says they use this information to develop the tools used by various organizations across the province.
He says once the first signs of a concussion are assessed it’s recommended that an athlete be pulled from what they are doing and be seen by a health care professional, “Studies have shown that with repeated concussions, the likelihood of sustaining another one is greatly increased and with repeated concussions also there is a greater likelihood of having a longer recovery phase. The biggest concern is receiving a second hit without having the signs and symptoms of the first hit resolved. You could have signs and symptoms long after the injury. That is why we are strongly advocating for people to take the right measures as soon as possible in order for them to return to their favourite sport.”
Some of the signs that would raise a red flag, are throwing up, seizures or double vision. Dr. Louis says if players are displaying any of those, they should be immediately seen by a medical professional. He adds, “There are also other signs that might lead to suspecting someone is suffering a concussion. They could be dazed, or have a blank look, have headaches or have a ringing in the ears.”
He adds, these tools are currently being used by the Francophone South School District. and have helped to establish a new concussion policy for football players within their district..
