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A school district in East Syracuse issues new protocol to deal with head injuries in its athletes. The new approach dictated by the East Syracuse Minoa district measures head injuries at every level. The plan is set to be expanded beyond the athletic department.
ES-M has worked for months to create an objective guideline to be used on every student who wears a Spartan uniform. Heedless of sport or level, all participants are to be treated the same when head injuries are suspected.
Brain injuries like concussions are very different from other types of injuries, and this school district’s plan is aimed at eliminating the gray area of treating an injury to the brain, a Manhattan -based Brain Injury Attorney says.
“‘You cannot play through a head injury’ – that’s kind of the educational component that we have to get to the people, so they understand that these are serious injuries and we can’t see them,” the East Syracuse Minoa Head Athletic Trainer said. “We have to have these objective things we look at before we can let them back on the field safely.”
In addition to diagnosing a head injury, the new protocol also includes the steps a student must take to return to play.
The athletic trainer said, “It’s not a jump back on the field and play and get banged up again. It’s…we ride the bike 20 minutes…if we have headaches then we’re back to shutting things down.”
The school’s Athletic Director said, “It could happen in any sport, so we have the protocol in place, and the trainers are right there, and they get the parents involved right from the beginning.”
A New York Brain Injury Attorney congratulates the school district on taking strides toward improving their school athletics department – not through the use of more weight rooms, but through the implementation of possibly life-saving health and safety standards.
The district is implementing the procedures into the spring sports season, gym classes, and recess periods, and expects it to be fully operational, in every activity possible, by the new school year in the fall. Schools in Westchester and Sufolk Counties have been encouraged to follow the same procedures.
Protocols like this are not always in place in time to prevent you or your loved one from getting injured. If you find yourself in need of legal counsel, contact the New York Brain Injury Law Offices; their attorneys are stringently educated in the intricacies of brain injury case law.