All Athletes face concussion risk

Computer test helps protect athletes from head injuries | TBO.com

http://www2.tbo.com/sports/news/2012/apr/09/computer-test-helps-protect-athletes-from-head-inj-ar-389891/



Pilot program hopes to manage brain injuries

High school athletes in Pinellas County are  undergoing testing for concussions.  A pilot program sponsored by the  Morton Mease Foundation is helping manage brain injuries in teen  athletes.    

CLEARWATER --               Football players gathered in a quiet room at Clearwater High  School on Thursday for their first test of the preseason. This challenge  didn't involve anything more physical than pushing around a computer  mouse, but someday it might save their lives on the field of play.



The players are the latest batch of student athletes at Clearwater  and Seminole High schools to participate in a pilot program designed to  tackle the problem of sports concussions.



The test is called ImPACT – Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and  Cognitive Testing. That's a mouthful even for athletes who haven't  suffered concussions but backers say it's a real game changer when it  comes to effective detection and treatment of sports concussions.



Essentially, student athletes take a 30-minute, computer exam that  measures memory, impulse control and reaction time. The point is to  create an individual baseline of mental abilities for every athlete. If  one suffers a possible concussion, sports trainers or their doctors have  them re-take the test to determine the severity of the brain injury.



Scott Anderson coordinates the sports medicine program for the  Morton Plant Mease medical system, which supplies testing trainers to  10 schools in Pinellas County.


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National studies have indicated 15 percent of all high school sports  injuries involve concussions and as many as 41 percent of student  athletes who suffered concussions returned to play too soon.

Football players incur the most head injuries 

but nearly all athletes face risk.