High Impact: Westtown School’s Concussion Education Initiatives
Student safety is Westtown School’s highest priority, so partnering with doctors from Magee Rehab Hospital’s Concussion Center in Philadelphia in educating the community about concussions is a no-brainer. Westtown and Magee will offer a workshop for students, coaches and parents on August 29, the first day of pre-season sports, about recognizing and treating concussions, one of a series of initiatives at Westtown in response to growing concern over the link between multiple, untreated concussions and later brain disease.
West Chester, PA (PRWEB) August 25, 2011
An estimated 1.6 million sports-related concussions occur every year. And athletes of all ages who are not fully recovered before returning to their sports are much more likely to receive additional, more devastating concussions. For Westtown School, a pre-K – 12 Quaker college-preparatory school in West Chester, PA, the safety and welfare of its student are of the highest importance, which has led Westtown to partner with Philadelphia’s Magee Rehabilitation Hospital to educate athletes, coaches and parents about preventing and treating concussions.
Pre-season training begins at Westtown on Monday, August 29, and representatives from the Concussion Center at Magee will be on hand to offer workshops about how to recognize concussions and best treatment protocols if they occur. All Westtown students in grades 7-12 participate in interscholastic sports, including fall contact sports such as women’s field hockey and volleyball, and men’s and women’s soccer. Although prevention has always been Westtown’s first line of defense against concussions, as emerging research began to link repeated injuries with cumulative brain disease, the school reacted swiftly to protect students with new policies and initiatives.
According to Athletic Director Jeannette Cooper, Westtown is a leader among schools in the Friends School and Delaware Independent School Leagues in mandating baseline testing to facilitate rapid diagnosis of sports-related concussions. “Early detection is critical to making a full recovery from a concussion. We know that.” Using the ImPACT program, every student athlete takes a series of online tests to record healthy brain activity, retaking the same test after receiving a blow to the head to determine if there are changes in short-term memory and cognition. Coaches are also trained to recognize concussion symptoms – both long-term and short-term – and understand the need for close follow-up observation whenever athletes receive blows to the head.
The Philadelphia Concussion Center at Magee was created in November, 2010, by Magee’s Brain Injury Service Department. Its main purpose is to help athletes, parents, coaches and teams determine when it is safe for an athlete to return to their sport, as well as to utilize Magee’s physical, occupational and speech therapy expertise to address any complications that may arise as the result of a concussion. The post-concussion clinic is being led by Tim Young, MD and Todd Lewis, PhD.
The efforts of the Philadelphia Concussion Center at Magee to address concussions in sports were recognized by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association in November 2010. “Magee’s new concussion clinic is providing a vital medical service to teams and athletes in our area,” said Rich Westcott, president of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association. “Concussions are a major issue in sports these days, and it’s extremely important that people get the proper information in terms of learning how to deal with this dangerous injury.” At Westtown School, where student safety is the highest priority, concussion education is simply a no-brainer.
Westtown School, founded in 1799, offers a rigorous academic program for students in grades pre-K – 12. Westtown educates for ethical leadership by empowering young people to act on their knowledge and the strength of their convictions to create a better world. Athletics are a vital part of the school’s program, emphasizing not only excellence on the playing field but also sportsmanship and teamwork.
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Sue Gold
Westtown School
610.399.7655
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