Last month, I had the opportunity to attend a concussion awareness workshop. It was designed to help educate coaches and parents on the prevalence and importance of proper concussion management. The city of Norwalk, CT had hired Katherine Snedaker LCSW, a well known concussion expert, to help identify the population of children who were sustaining concussions not covered by CT Concussion Law. This was paramount to help streamline a better reporting system for school staff, prevent additional trauma by removing a child from play as well as to have a response protocol in place.
Mrs. Snedaker personally had her first concussion in her teens from which she had weeks of headaches. She estimates she has had many subsequent concussions that were not originally identified because the prior guidelines stated a person had to lose consciousness. As a mother of boys in sports, she became frustrated when her son sustained a series of concussions that caused him to miss a year of school. The medical professionals had advised him to rest until the symptoms disappeared. This was not helping and she felt there was a lack of information.
This prompted her to begin researching and seeking out experts in the field as well as attending conferences. She soon became an expert herself, helping to bridge the gap between families and navigating the challenges of concussions. Her knowledge and passion grew into her current mission; Pink Concussions, a non-profit designed to improve pre-injury and post-injury medical care for women who have sustained a concussion or TBI (traumatic brain injury).
One of the challenges of a parent or coach is recognizing a concussion. In fact, most concussions occur without loss of consciousness and do not have to be from a direct blow. There are some exceptional educational tools to help understand and identify concussions. ORCAS produced an informational video for all ages called “Brain 101: What’s a Concussion.”
Additionally, they have a follow-up video that shows symptoms and treatment options.
With the continual advances in technology, Gerard A. Gioia, Phd and Jason Mihalik, PhD designed an app to helps recognize whether a person is exhibiting signs of a concussion. It takes you through a step by step process on what to look for in less than 5 minutes. This is a great tool for a child who is injured and a coach who needs to understand the extent of the injury. You can find the app at www4.parinc.com.
Although, we may not be able to fully prevent concussions. We do know that minimizing the trauma from re-injury is paramount for recovery. More than 80 percent of people recover within 3 weeks of a concussion. So it is important to take the appropriate steps of recognizing the injury and getting medical care when needed.
References
www.pinkconcussions.com. (2016). Retrieved 11 7, 2016, from Pink Concussions: http://www.pinkconcussions.com/
