Testing helps change the game on youth concussions
25.05.11
Athletes at the 25 public high schools in Fairfax County , an affluent suburb of Washington, take baseline tests like the ones used by NFL players. The ImPACT tests are one tool doctors and athletic trainers can use to tell when it is safe to return to the field. That's crucial because a second concussion when not fully healed from a first one is dangerous.
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But baseline tests are also important because they get students back to class more quickly, says Jon Almquist, administrator of the county's athletic training program. Without them, athletic trainers must err on the side of keeping students away from class longer.
"The NFL is in the football business," Almquist says. "We're in the education business."
Concussed athletes need cognitive rest, meaning no reading, writing or arithmetic — not to mention Facebook, TV or texting. "I'll admit I wasn't the best about that," says Parker, 16. "I was too bored. But the more I stayed off (electronics) the better I felt."
Source: USA Today