Blair Hosts Info Session on Concussions to Educate Parents, Coaches and Athletes

A meeting was held at the Montgomery Blair High School auditorium on Wednesday night to inform coaches, parents and athletes on the dangers and proper treatment of concussions.

Hosted by girls' basketball coach Erin Conley, the meeting was attended by 30-plus parents.

According to Blair Athletic Boosters President Ron McClain, the meeting is part of an “ongoing and relatively new educational effort inside the county to help parents, players and school staff get up to speed on the information and the best advice.”

Conley’s team has already experienced three concussions this season, which she said led her to become more educated on the subject, and then share that information with the Blair community.

“We had a lot of parents with questions and wanting answers,” she said. “We, as a program, didn’t necessarily have that covered. So realizing that, we said ‘We really need to do a better job at this. Let’s get everybody together and get all the information out and educate ourselves, parents, athletes and coaches.’”

Conley began her presentation by emphasizing the dangerous nature of concussions.

“We might refer to it as ‘getting your bell rung’ or ‘taking a hard hit,’ but it can be a very serious injury,” she said.

Concussions, Conley said, can affect balance, memory and emotional stability, among other things. It is important that these symptoms are treated fully before an athlete attempts to return to play. An athlete still recovering from a concussion can suffer from post-concussion syndrome and second impact syndrome if they return too soon and become re-injured, possibly causing paralysis or death.

“When kids come back too early from a concussion, the results can be permanent,” Conley said. “We really have to educate our kids about the fact that if they do have these symptoms, it’s better to miss one game than a whole season. We have to educate them and let them know that if they are experiencing these signs, they need to let us know so that we can make the proper decisions.”

At Blair, the emphasis is not just on the after-care of concussions, but also on preparation should they occur. It is now being suggested to Blair athletes that they take a baseline cognitive brain function test before the athletic season. Following a head injury, the athlete can then take the test again and compare results to determine the existence or severity of a concussion.

The test, which uses a software system called ImPACT, is being offered by Metro Orthopedics and Sports Therapy (MOST) in Silver Spring. MOST will be coming to Blair on Feb. 19 at 8:30 a.m. to offer testing to all students at a rate of 20 dollars per person.

“If used correctly, ImPACT ... provides valuable information to the athlete’s parents and athletic trainers, to make sure that this athlete is going to be able to return to play, and provides us with a diagnosis of … how far off their norm they are, and how much further they have to get back to their normal brain cognitive function,” Conley said.

Blair Athletic Director Dale Miller said the school is considering buying the ImPACT software in the future to have it readily accessible to students, although that official decision has not yet been made.

The meeting was well-received by many in attendance, including a father whose son had suffered from a concussion as a ninth-grader.

“It’s great that the coaches are doing this,” he said. “This is a great presentation and a great way to get people to think about it. I’d love to do the same presentation for the academic teachers as well, because there’s any number of issues [related to concussions] that affect your studies, like forgetfulness.”

A wealth of additional information on concussions can be found at www.cdc.gov/concussion.