CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Training in the Mountain State continues for EMS and health providers, athletic directors and coaches to recognize the signs of brain injuries in student athletes before it’s too late.
A concussion training event was held by the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority Wednesday with the support of the Kanawha County Commission and the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.
It marked the second installation of the “Concussion Discussion” the health officials recently held regarding the risk of sports-related head injuries suffered from student athletes in West Virginia and their potential to become fatal.
During the event, Neurosurgeon Dr. Calvin Whaley again came together with Dr. Jim Kyle from the West Virginia Department of Emergency Medical Services to instruct a class of paramedics and nurses on the protocols for school athletic-related head injuries. The session that was held in September was geared toward athletic directors, coaches and parents.
Kyle said EMS and paramedics typically cover middle and high school football games, and it’s important for them to be in the loop with the knowledge on what to do when a concussion occurs on the field. He said it’s important for them to recognize a head injury early so athletes don’t return to play with concussion symptoms.
“We want to make sure they understand that, “when in doubt, sit them out,” Kyle said. “If you have an athlete with a suspected concussion, it’s important to identify it and rule them out from playing that day.”
The effort comes after the tragic death in August of 13-year-old Cohen Craddock of Madison Middle School in Boone County, who had sustained a head injury at football practice and passed away at the hospital the following day.
Kyle said something they’re now really trying to emphasize through holding these discussions is the need to get in the mindset of having players sit out a game or a practice if a concussion is even suspected.
“Culture has it that we want to sort of play through the pain, not so with a concussion, and that’s imperative, coaches have to work hard with their athletes and tell them, if you think you’ve have a concussion, I want you to tell me now,” he said. “You need to self-report, and your teammates need to report if you’re not acting right.”
Kyle said most of these kinds of injuries are not associated with loss of consciousness like previous standards may have led people to believe, but he said most of the time, people don’t even have to be knocked out to have a concussion.
He said the most obvious symptom of a concussion is a headache, but there’s many other symptoms to look out for as well.
“Many will report being dizzy, some will report being foggy or off balance, light and noise sensitivity is also very common,” said Kyle.
Other concussion symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, drowsiness, trouble sleeping, and many more.
Kyle said often, no two people’s concussion symptoms are the same.
CEO of the Princeton Rescue Squad in Mercer County, Mark Brooks was in attendance at Wednesday’s training.
Brooks said they are considering acquiring guardian caps for Mercer County football teams due the increased number of concussions they are seeing on the field and based on the NFL’s success with their recent installation of them.
He said guardian caps add that extra layer of protection for the head and brain, but a lot more goes into them, which requires coaches and players to be properly trained on how they work and be aware that they still have their limits.
“Just because you put a guardian cap on doesn’t mean you can hit harder, just because you put one on doesn’t mean it’s going to help any more, there’s other things that have to go a long with that,” Brooks said. “So, with the guardian caps and proper education with the use of these, it’s definitely saving players right now in the NFL.”
Brooks said while he’s been a paramedic for almost 30 years, there’s always more to learn and do when it comes to improving the health and safety standards of student athletes and patients as a whole.
“The little things that we do when we very first put our hands on patients changes the outcome of the patient’s life,” Brooks said. “Be it good or bad, it depends on what you know, it depends on training, it depends on how well you apply the training, so within the first two minutes of me doing patient care for a patient, it has a very huge outcome on that patient’s life.”