School Board Considers Concussion Policy

As head injuries become more common and more severe among student athletes, the Board of Education is set to adopt a new policy that calls for more training for coaches to recognize and react to their injured players.

The policy is in reaction to a new state statute that calls for the extra measures to be taken to try to cut down on the number of injuries students experience. After a first reading of the new policy this month, the board is expected to approve it in March.

A concussion is "a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works," according to the Center for Disease Control. "Concussions can also occur from a blow to the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth."

"Due to the severe injuries to student athletes, all coaches on all levels are required to have concussion management training before they can get their coaching permit," Hamden Athletic Director Jeanne Cooper said.

A year after obtaining the permit, the coach must go for a refresher course, Cooper said, and then again every five years after that.

The three-hour training encompasses instruction on recognizing the symptoms of a concussion, including dizziness, light sensitivity and headaches.

If a coach detects the symptoms in one of his or her players, the athlete must be immediately pulled from play.

Before the season starts, concussion assessments will be done of each player to establish a baseline upon which other assessments after injuries will be compared.

All of Hamden's coaches underwent the training in June 2010, she said.

"We will continue to do it every year," she said, "and as new coaches come on."

Board member Myron Hul said he supports the new policy and would like to see it extend beyond just athletic team coaches.

"My concern is that the scope is limited to student athletes," he said. "There are other activities that are just as vigorious and susceptible to injuries."

Those activities can include the school's Ski Club and theater groups, Hul said.

"They can fall off of the props," he said. "I've seen it happen, and I think they should consider expanding it to other activities."

Supt. of Schools Fran Rabinowitz said she would like to begin with athletics and see how it goes.

"This is a whole process," she said. "It's a lot of work and I would like to see how it goes with sports first."

"You can't prepare for every possible injury," board member Michael Dolan said. "To say that theater is just as dangerous as football or hockey or lacrosse, I would have to disagree -- you don't read about too many injuries in the theater environment."