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Every school district and private youth sports
organization should have a sideline protocol for
dealing with head injuries. Once that has
been developed, all sideline personnel should
practice the procedure until it becomes
second nature. You don't want to have to
think about what to do when facing a situation
where time may not be on your side. Here are
some examples of what to include in your
sideline protocol:
What to do if your athlete
is hurt...
1) Remove the athlete from play
immediately, and KEEP
THEM OUT if any
concussion symptoms
are evident or if you suspect for any reason,
that the athlete may have sustained a
concussion.
2) If you do not have access to an athletic trainer or other medical
professional, assess the athlete using the
Sideline Concussion
Evaluation Tool or SCAT 2 and determine if emergency medical assistance is required. If not,
re-assess the athlete every
5-10 minutes for several hours after the injury. Consider assigning a staff member to stay
with the athlete at all times to look for signs
of deterioration.
3) Notify the athlete's parents that their child
has suffered a possible concussion. Make
sure they know the
signs/symptoms, and that their onset may be hours or days after the
injury occurred.
4) Have the athlete obtain a
written
return-to-play authorization from a qualified
medical professional and assure that they are
100% symptom-free at rest and during exertion
(see below) before allowing them to resume practice or play.
5) Verify that the athlete is 100% symptom-free
before allowing them to participate in any
activity.
Coaches are
sometimes the last to know. Ask parents/teammates if they're aware of
any lingering symptoms such as a headache.
6) Institute a
gradual return-to-play procedure
after the athlete is medically cleared, and make
sure they are
symptom-free during exertion. If symptoms
return during exercise, their brain may not be fully healed.
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Concussion
Doctor's
visit
Baseline
Testing
