With all the conversation in the off season about helmets coming off and then the death of Chris Henry, some thought that the action by the NFHS came up short.
Some officials are reluctant to send a player off the field if they aren't sure. Unless the team has a diagnostician on the sideline (medical doctor?), sending a kid out with a potential head injury is the same as a ejection -- he probably won't be back that night. We all want to err on the side of player safety but nobody wants to send out an impact player that could alter the outcome of the game if the diagnosis isn't correct.
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I'm working on a follow-up article to the above linked "Heads will roll".
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North Carolina weighs in on the "appropriate health care professional".
"Medical Doctor. MD."
No trainer, chiropractor, not EMT.
No physician's assist (P.A.) nor nurse practitioner (N.P.) No doctor of osteopathy (D.O.)
Medical Doctor. If there is no medical doctor present at the game, the kid's out.
Our supervisor re-iterated the rule as written. Neither coaches nor officials are required to diagnose. Once the official(s) send the kid out, we're off the hook. The burden is then on the coach and he cannot send the kid back in without clearance from a medical doctor.
"What if several plays later, the kid returns to play and then a few plays later shows symptoms again." Send him back out and you're off the hook again.
It was stressed that only three and one-half per cent of concussed patients actually loose consciousness. 3.2% So there are a lot of kids getting concussions without passing out. 63% of concussions are caused (in football) by helmet to helmet contact.
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