Concussion guidelines to be set by the CDC
<!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 6
–>
HACKENSACK, N.J. – A panel of health experts will begin work this fall to create a national standard for deciding when – or if – it’s safe for a young athlete to resume a sport after suffering a concussion, two New Jersey lawmakers announced.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will assemble experts to review medical research and, by the fall of 2013, recommend a protocol for properly diagnosing and treating concussions, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Sen. Robert Menendez, both New Jersey Democrats, said. Pascrell said they would then work to establish a law making those standards mandatory.
“We’ve got to stop adults from pushing young people back out onto the playing field before they are ready,” Pascrell said at a news conference to announce the new CDC initiative at Nutley High School.
Student-athletes in New Jersey are already subject to such a protocol, with a law adopted last year that requires a doctor’s written clearance before any player who suffered a concussion can return to a school-sponsored sport.
Pascrell and Menendez, D-N.J., tried last year to pass a federal law that would establish a national concussion-management standard for student-athletes. The legislation stalled.
A concussion is considered a form of brain damage, and how well athletes recover can depend greatly on how much rest time they are given to heal. A big concern is second-impact syndrome, which occurs when someone suffers another head injury before the previous concussion has healed. That can result in rapid brain swelling and even death.