“The problem is a concussion isn’t thought of as a brain injury. It is a brain injury, and there is a spectrum of severity with concussion, and some of them can be very severe,” said Dr. Robert Cantu of the Sports Legacy Institute, which hosted the training session with the Boston Scholar Athlete Program. “Symptoms last a very long time, and people in some cases (don’t) even ever get over the symptoms.”
The schools canceled and cut short practices yesterday to let coaches attend the event. Yesterday’s training included how to recognize and respond to a concussion, and the appropriate amount of time a concussion sufferer should take before returning to play or the classroom.
“Everyone will be better off with this education, and will be safer, but it will seem like this is everywhere because we haven’t been recognizing it,” said Christopher Nowinski of the Sports Legacy Institute and Boston University School of Medicine’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. “A concussion is a very serious injury, and there’s a lot that we need to do to make kids safer. It starts with getting them off the field for the day, getting them to a medical professional, but it goes beyond that as well.”
Cory McCarthy, a varsity basketball coach at New Mission High School, said he believes the training will help him help the kids.
“This is serious business. You’re dealing with kids here who don’t have the judgment or who don’t have the ability to diagnose themselves,” McCarthy said. “They barely say when their knees are injured, and we have a culture where, especially in football, (Dallas Cowboys quarterback) Tony Romo gets hurt and comes back in the game – he has a collapsed lung and broken ribs. He comes back in the game, what is that saying to our kids?”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1369118
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