Hudson Valley Task Force Debuts Plan to Address Concussions

A Hudson Valley task force has unveiled its plan for dealing with concussions in high school and youth sports.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino created the Westchester County Concussion Task Force. A group of doctors, coaches, and teachers developed a program that deals diagnosing, treating, and limiting concussions in sports.

The goal is to standardize the response to head injuries and remind everyone that head injuries occur in all sports, not just football. The task force learned that there were wide differences in how Westchester schools worked to prevent, diagnose and treat head injuries and also found that over 400 students suffer concussions each year.

Safer Sports is the latest initiative in the Safer Communities campaign launched by Astorino in 2013. At a press conference on Monday, Astorino released the Safer Sports brochure which details the "10 Best Practices" on ways to improve how schools can deal with concussions in youth sports.

1. Awarness: Educate everyone on the symptoms, risks, and treatment for concussions.
2. Build a Team: Encourage schools to form a concussion management team that brings together experts.
3. Report What You Know: Ensure all concussions are reported
4. Assess Situations Immediately: Use athletic trainers to notice concussion like symptoms right away.
5. Don’t “One Stop” Shop For Answers: Athletes should be provided referrals to more than one doctor.
6. Understand The Big Picture: Learn the impacts concussions can cause on emotions, behavior and education.
7. Stay Current: Health care providers evaluating children and adolescents must maintain a current level of understanding
8. Encourage Training: Train individuals so they can conduct tests at all times.
9. Beware of Single Answers: It takes more than one test to understand the extent of an injury.
10. Focus on “Return to Learn”: Address issues athletes face when they return to the classroom following an injury.

The plan is endorsed by the Brain Injury Association of America, and the county intends to offer its Safer Sports booklet to schools nationwide.