By Casey McDonald
For three days in April, all athletes were required to take a test to help them better understand concussion results. Concussions have been hurting countless number of players in sports for years, but they never really understood what has happened.
Athletes at PHS had to take a baseline test showing mental capacity so that if in a game they were to come up with a concussion, the staff could have them retake the test and compare results. These tests help staff and trainers better understand what kind of head trauma the player would have to endure.
This year, PHS is home to a new trainer Ryan Carroll. Carroll held the concussion tests while athletes took a baseline test for future reference. When athletes are injured, the staff looks for symptoms to help show what kind of trauma the player has encountered.
“The sports medicine team would look for the obvious signs and symptoms [of a concussion] first. Symptoms like dizziness, headache, loss of consciousness, incoherent are signs of a concussion,” said Carroll. According to Carroll, “Students in all contact sports are being tested. The test will allow the sports medicine team to have a subjective evaluation of the concussion and will eliminate the need to guess when a student is ready to return to play.” The information from the test is stored by the IMPACT test website.
“When a concussion is diagnosed, the student will retake the test and the scores will be compared.” If the student’s new score matches the baseline score, he/she has returned to full mental health. These tests will better help coaches and staff in the future. Students will not be allowed to participate before they are healed. If they return too soon, they have increased risks of more severe injury.
In the media, there have been stories of famous athletes who suffered concussions with a few being sidelined. Former NFL Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson, committed suicide after many years of countless playing resulting in head injuries. He decided to donate his brain for concussion research. The family believed through researching Duerson’s brain student athletes, coaches, and trainers would have a better understanding about concussion injuries.
Carroll thinks that the media’s publicity along with the newest research has been very helpful in raising awareness of the severity of concussions. Even though the test is instrumental in helping concussion awareness in schools in the future, some of the reactions of the students were not the same. “Most of them[the students], felt it was challenging. I think they all understand the importance of it though,” said Carroll. All of these tests will better help Carroll explain concussions to the students when they have their first retest.” “I think that person will see how different the test is after a concussion.” The staff and the medicine team have learned a lot from the tests. “I have been keeping up on recent articles and research for the last few years. This will add to all of that to help me properly treat a student with a concussion.”
Taking tests are difficult for people, and everyone has a different perspective when he/she take tests. Sophomore Lauren Tanner said that she felt emotionally and mentally terrible when taking the test. She said that she felt drained afterward. Sophomore April Hampton said, “I felt really dumb to be frank. While taking the test it was as if I went back to my third grade class.”
Concussions can really affect an athlete’s playing. Sometimes, you even have short moments when you can’t remember things or you go back to a situation in the past. Tanner said that you can’t remember things, you have headaches, and many more side effects. Hampton said that it could be more severe your memory loss, “and cause you to forget some of the most important plays.”
When taking test like these, people never know who is going to get the results. Hampton and Tanner said that they think that the athletic department and Ryan Carroll get the results because they represent the school’s athletic association. When taking tests like this concussion test, sometimes people do not know what the test is like or what it consists of. Sometimes, it is not even what you expected. Tanner said that it was not like she expected. “I thought it was going to be just questions not a memorization test.” Hampton said that it also was not like she expected. She thought there would be a line of students going to see a physician or nurse, and they were going to ask several questions about concussions.
Even though that this test was very confusing to everyone who took it, the test will help the medical staff in the future. Hampton said that these test will better help in the future. “The tests will notify easily from your previous results if your memory has been slightly damaged.” Tanner also said that they will help because she is more aware of the symptoms now.
When someone takes tests like these, they never know what kind of questions will be on the test. They are always different and nobody knows what to expect. Hampton said “the test asked a lot of questions that you first had to see at least twenty words and you had to answer questions. For example, there would be a question like, ‘Was this word listed’ and there would be two choices to answer from.”
Concussions are taken seriously all throughout the country. Concussions that are not taken seriously can harm some one’s life, and could possibly kill somebody if untreated. But with the right people to take care of someone and the right tools, concussions can not only be prevented but can help in further research about what really causes concussions. “Coaches will not have to worry about them when a player will be ready,” Carroll said.