West Essex Implements ImPACT Concussion Testing

West Essex High School boys soccer coach Mike Giampapa believes there can never be enough ways to protect athletes from the dangers of concussions and identify the adequate amount of time needed before returning to the field.

The regional school district's Board of Education recently took a precautionary step to better protect its student-athletes by approving the purchase of ImPACT testing equipment that will be used by all of the high school's athletes.

ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) provides computerized neurological assessment tools and services used by coaches, athletic trainers, doctors and other health professionals to assist in determining an athlete's fitness to return to play after suffering a concussion.

At the beginning of the school year, the 25-minute computerized examination, which was developed five years ago, is administered to measure concentration and reaction time while recording a baseline score of each athlete. Following a head injury, the test is given again and those scores are compared to the baseline to determine if the athlete has fully recovered from the injury.

West Essex coaches, who will attend a two-hour educational workshop on the testing Tuesday afternoon at the high school, have embraced the chance to have another tool available.

"It's nothing to look at lightly," said Giampapa, who had several players suffer concussions last fall. "You have to understand what's going on. We had concussions last year where kids were out for two or three weeks.

"We have to respond in the proper way. We used to tell a player to sit down, tell mom and dad. Now we want to see the player see a doctor and physician and study the kind of contact that was made. Was it a direct blow? Was it unseen? Did you see it coming? There's a lot to discuss."

According to its Web site, "the ImPACT symptom scale has become standard throughout amateur and professional sports and promotes the quantification of the severity of symptoms. This scale also allows for the accurate tracking of recovery from each of the individual symptoms throughout the recovery process. Finally, this scale serves as an educational tool, alerting both the athlete, team staff and parent regarding potential post-concussive symptoms."

ImPACT costs between $500 and $1,000 each year, depending on the amount of athletes tested. According to Michael Falkowski, business administrator for West Essex, the program will cost the district $1,000 each year.

The testing is currently used by approximately 180 New Jersey schools, including Mount St. Dominic Academy and James Caldwell High School, which implemented the program last year.

"I think anytime you have a tool that gives you data, it's a good thing," said West Essex Athletic Director Damion Macioci, a former athletic trainer. "We want to determine a safe return for our athletes. This will be another tool to help manage and help determine when it's safe."

Dr. Joseph Rempson, co-medical director and co-founder of the Atlantic Health Care Sports Concussion Center at Overlook Hospital in Summit,  and will return Tuesday as one of the three scheduled speakers at the workshop.

Macioci said the workshop will include New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) awareness, details of the ImPACT testing as well as educational information for the coaches.

The NJSIAA approved in the spring a two-page form to be filled out by student-athletes, their parents and a physician before the athlete can return to play after suffering a concussion.

"A lot of teams can go a whole season without having one concussion," Macioci said. "But we had at least three kids last year sit after nasty collisions, nasty ones."

West Essex football coach David Drozjock said his team suffered a couple of concussions last season and believes the ImPACT testing will be a huge help in accurately determining when an athlete can return to the field.

"They didn't have the pre-test, but they really need to go through pre-testing," he said. "If we think it's a possible concussion, we'll have it tested again.

"It'll help our players and help us down the road. God forbid. We don't want to put a kid back on the field. This way you have a starting point. If something happens, you have something to go from."