County-wide Concussion Care

1. County-wide Concussion Care

2. Information About Me, Why I Want to Achieve the Goal, and The Goal This year, I suffered from a concussion during a high school soccer game. It was my third concussion in four years, and all of them were a result of soccer. I suffered for three months after my head trauma. Every day was a struggle. I felt so sick that I would have to sleep a few periods a day in the nurse’s office at school. My soccer career was brought to an abrupt halt, and its future became clouded. After going to several doctors, I went to see specialists at the University of Miami Sports Medicine facility, including Dr. Gillian Hotz. Not only did Dr. Hotz and her associates help me to finally find relief from my symptoms, but she introduced me to ImPACT testing. I took the test myself, and found it to be very simple. A few weeks later, when my symptoms had improved, I took the test again. My scores were dramatically different. This proved to me that ImPACT testing was a very good tool for analyzing concussions. I thought to myself that I would never want anyone else to have to suffer as I did. I decided to ask Dr. Hotz to bring ImPACT testing and her expertise in concussion management to my school, Ransom Everglades. I came to an agreement with Ransom Everglades, and ImPACT testing will begin next year for every Ransom Everglades student. I then thought of the idea to spread the ImPACT testing and Concussion Management education to the public schools of Miami-Dade County that have athletics. The goal of raising $20,000 has been set to provide ImPACT testing for each of the the thirty-six schools, fund concussion research, and support Dr. Hotz’s Concussion Initiative.

3. Concussions in the News NFL · The NFL instituted a new policy on Concussion Management before the current NFL season. · “Ex-players' anger -- and fear -- is bolstered by evidence emerging from posthumous studies of athletes' brains. They reveal brown tangles peppered throughout the brain tissue of former NFL players. Experts say the tangles, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE and found in players as young as in their 30s or 40s, resemble what might be found in the brain of an 80-year-old with dementia.” (CNN Health) Washington Congressional Hearings · Congress passed The Protecting Student Athletes From Concussions Act, which will improve Concussion Awareness and Management for student athletes. · Link to the Act’s contents: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-6172

5. Consequences of Concussions • “Lack of proper diagnosis and management of concussion may result in serious long-term consequences, or risk of coma or death.” (Sports Concussion Institute) • “… of the 595 retired N.F.L. players who recalled sustaining three or more concussions on the football field, 20.2 percent said they had been found to have depression. That is three times the rate of players who have not sustained concussions.” (2007 survey from the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes via The New York Times) • “Alzheimer's disease… diagnosed in the [NFL’s] former players… 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49” (2009 study by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research) • “Each year, an estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI annually. Of them: 52,000 die, 275,000 are hospitalized, and 1.365 million, nearly 80%, are treated and released from an emergency department.” (CDC) • “…a growing body of research has strengthened evidence that concussion may be the catalyst for a wide range of brain diseases, from depression and dementia to Parkinson's disease symptoms and now, movement disorders such as ALS.” (Los Angeles Times)

6. ImPACT Testing • Measures and analyzes symptoms • Tests memory, processing speed, and reaction time (reactions are within .01 seconds • Accuracy) • Provides doctors and trainers with vital information to assist them in determining • proper recovery time. • Provides reliable baseline test information • A report of the test results can be created immediately after completion of the test. • This report can be sent via e-mail or fax to get the results to the qualified test • administrator as quickly as possible • Data from all tests is automatically stored • All that is necessary is the software, keyboard, mouse, and computer (PC or Mac) • Only 20-25 minutes to finish the test

7. Concussion Facts and Stats • “From 1997 to 2007, emergency department visits for concussion in kids aged 8 to 13 playing organized sports doubled, and the number of visits increased by more than 200 percent in older teens.” (MSN Health and Fitness) • “More than 300,000 U.S. athletes lose consciousness each year from what may be as many as 3.8 million concussions” (CDC via Bloomberg.com) • “Brain injuries afflict 1.4 million Americans each year” (National Brain Injury Association via USA Today) • “In organized high school sports, concussions occur more often in competitive sports, with football accounting for more than 60% of concussions.” (Sports Concussion Institute) • “High school athletes who sustain a concussion are three times more likely to sustain a second concussion.” (Sports Concussion Institute)

8. Concussion Management There are several phases of Concussion Management. One is identifying the concussion. When a student-athlete is involved in a collision, coaches and trainers (or “sideline staff”) must be educated on how to see if the student-athlete is concussed. The extent of the head trauma must then be properly determined and analyzed. The ImPACT test can be used to do this outside of games, during games (though the player would have to be removed from the contest), or during practice. The sideline staff must be educated on the signs of concussions and whether the student-athlete should return to playing in that game. The ImPACT Test and the qualified registered administrator of the test (Dr. Hotz) will help design a plan for a return to action. The coaches, faculty, parents, and student athletes must all know the proper management of concussions in order for concussion prevention to be achieved. The goal is not only to bring the ImPACT test to these high schools, but to also instill proper concussion management and education.

9. 2010 Countywide Concussion Care in the News Article from University of Miami Medical School: http://ww2.med.miami.edu/eupdate/news_page/ransom-students-learn-about-concussions-and-impact-testing Article from the Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/11/1868083/university-of-miami-program-targets.html News Segment from Channel 7 News: http://www.wsvn.com/features/articles/medicalreports/MI90098/

11. County Wide Concussion Care : • January 2011 – Miami Dade County School Board approved the donation of ImPACT Testing from the KiDZ Neuroscience Center • February 2011 – All Miami Dade Public School PE Teachers were educated on the risks and proper management of concussions • March 2011 – Meeting was held with athletic directors and trainers of all the 36 public high schools of Miami Dade County with athletic programs to educate on concussions and the ImPACT Test • April 2011 – All spring football players will have ImPACT baseline test. • August/September 2011 – Freshman football players and all girls and boys soccer players will have the ImPACT baseline test.

12. Florida Youth Athletes Legislation (HB 301, SB 730) On February 22, 2011, I visited Tallahassee to endorse the Youth Athletes Bill going through the Florida Senate and House of Representatives. This bill will provide concussion education to athletes, parents, coaches, and trainers. Secondly, the bill establish a “when in doubt, sit them out” policy of removing a youth athlete from play who has suffered a head trauma. Lastly, it will place youth athletes with concussions under the supervision of medical professional who will help the athlete recover and will give the athlete clearance to return to play. During my visit, I spoke to ten State Senators and Representatives, telling them my story and why concussion education and management are so important. Hopefully, this legislation will be passed this Spring, and the youth athletes of Florida will have the protection they need form concussions.

13. It would mean so much if you would donate to Countywide Concussion Care. This program will make high school athletics dramatically safer. Proper detection and treatment of concussions will save lives. No high schooler should have to endure the difficult and painful experience that I had, nor any of the other possible horrifying consequences of concussions. Your donation will make Miami-Dade County a better place. Thank you so much in advance, David Goldstein