Source: http://www.29sports.com/29/london/home.html; http://sports.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090210.wsptconcussions9/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090210.wsptconcussions9
Another day, another report into concussions in sport! This time the recommendations come from a Panel of experts from the London Hockey Concussion Summit in Ontario. The statement issued by the Summit chair, Dr. Paul Echlin, recommends that fighting (the major cause of high / head hits) should be eliminated in order to remove the incidence of concussions. It is important to note however that this statement was not unanimous, but rather was intended to be a talking point providing recommendations for future discussion.
The panel also advised that:
- a central ‘concussion certification program’ (Proposed name: Hockey Concussion Initiative) be set up in which trainers, coaches and officials would gain knowledge aimed at recognizing and treating concussion. While this agency would initially be focused on Hockey injuries, ultimately the Panel hope that it could serve as a model for all sports in which head injuries occur such as football, soccer, rugby, skiing, skateboarding and cycling.
- an NHL/Ontario Hockey League role model program be adopted
- Studies should be launched leading to a data collection system
- Players should undergo pre-season screening
- A survey should be conducted of protective equipment.
Kris is a Senior Lecturer, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!
Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!
March 11, 2009 at 12:26
This is great news — people are starting to realize that this matters. My own two concussions in high school — I talk about them at http://brokenbrilliant.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/a-tale-of-two-concussions-what-went-wrong-what-went-right/ — really mucked up my life. I wonder where I’d be today, if my bell hadn’t gotten run a couple of times in high school. What might it have meant for my grades, for my social life, for my relationship with parents and other authority figures? I was fortunate to have coaches and teachers who watched out for me, but I do wish they had known more about concussion and helped me more after my injuries. Just explaining what concussion is and what it can do to your mind and your life would have been very helpful information for me at that formative time.