District hosts concussion discussion

PALMER — In conjunction with Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the Mat-Su School District is hosting the second day of its Playing it Safe conference at the Mat-Su School District Administration Building in Palmer.

The two-day conference comes weeks after both the Alaska House of Representatives and Alaska State Senate passed House Bill 15, an initiative designed to help protect athletes from incurring serious brain injuries that can be caused by concussions. Mat-Su School District’s Lebron McPhail said the conference was organized to not only educate local parents, coaches, athletes and health care providers about House Bill 15, but also make them aware just how serious concussions and traumatic brain injuries can be.

“We feel very adamant that we try to educate as much as we can,” McPhail said Thursday, after the conclusion of the first day of the conference.

House Bill 15 requires student-athletes suspected of suffering a concussion be removed from play right away. The law also states those diagnosed with a concussion not be permitted to return to their sport until cleared by a medical professional.

“It’s now a law that if a kid receives a hit in the head, they are immediately pulled from the game if they’re wobbly, or if they seem disoriented or are not functioning in the matter they were,” McPhail said.

Game referees in sports such as football have already been trained to look for athletes who may have suffered a concussion and remove those players showing signs of a concussion from action. The Alaska Schools Activities Association hosted a meeting Wednesday to cover this subject. McPhail said now the Mat-Su School Borough School District aims to do its part to educate the public about the dangers of concussions and ways to prevent serious injuries and future problems for student-athletes.

McPhail stressed this is not just a problem for athletes in sports such as football and hockey, and everyone associated in not just high school sports, but also youth sports, should be aware.

“Concussions happen throughout all sports,” McPhail said. “The youth sports need to be aware, all of these different programs.”

McPhail said the information covered in the conference — signs and symptoms, recognition and treatment, and the facts about House Bill 15 — can be useful for all associated with youth and high school sports. But he said it’s also important to know those off the court or fields aren’t immune to concussions.

“Skateboarding, snowboarding, it happens there, too,” McPhail said.

Education is key, McPhail said.

“It’s making students aware, coaches aware, officials aware, parents aware of the law,” McPhail said.

It’s also important to understand the impact of concussions, and how that might affect a student-athlete in areas, such the classroom, he said.

The school district is also introducing a trial program that would include administering a basic neurological baseline test. The ImPACT Concussion Management Program is a computerized test that assesses a student-athlete’s neurological baseline. This information can be used to properly understand how much a concussion affects a student-athlete. It can also be used as a tool when monitoring athletes who have suffered a concussion and determining when that student is allowed to return to their sport. Athletes with a concussion would continue to be tested until they return to their baseline.

The district is starting its trial by testing football and hockey players in certain grade levels. McPhail said the district is starting here simply because there is not enough resources currently to test all athletes, but that is the longterm goal.

McPhail said the test itself is fairly simple, lasting 15 to 20 minutes.

ASAA executive director Gary Matthews is among the guest speakers during today’s session of the conference, which starts about 8:45 a.m. A provider who administers the ImPACT test will also be on hand to answer questions. Those attending will also be split into focus groups — such as parents, coaches and nurses — to discuss the information covered during this conference.

McPhail expects the district to host another conference later this year.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.