The Canadian Football League has teamed up with Football Canada, Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the Canadian School Sport Federation, the Canadian Football League Players Association (CFLPA), the Canadian Football League Alumni Association (CFLAA), and ThinkFirst (a national charitable foundation dedicated to the prevention of brain and spinal cord injuries, founded by Dr. Charles Tator, a renowned expert in the area of brain injury, concussion and injury prevention) to tackle the CONCUSSION ISSUE.
A ‘concussion card’ has been made available for everyone in the Canadian football community to use (see below).
The goal of the new campaign is to distribute the concussion flyers and posters – on paper and electronically – to more than 100,000 kids playing minor football, 3,200 high schools with 750,000 athletes playing football and other sports, and 52 universities with 2,000 football players and 8,500 other student-athletes.
“We know football isn’t in this alone, and that concussions affect every sport, as well as people in everyday life,” CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said at a news conference yesterday.
One by one, representatives of football at every level, outlined initiatives designed to promote awareness, increase diagnosis, and improve management of concussions. Those include:
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[*]CFL team physicians and therapists use an internationally recognized medical protocol, known as SCAT2, for diagnosing concussions and withholding athletes from play until they have been properly cleared to participate.
[*] All CFL roster players are submitted to minimum baseline cognitive testing, known as IMPACT, during training camp.
[*] All player concussion assessments in the CFL are left solely in the hands of team physicians and therapist.
[*] All CFL coaches and players will receive educational material to aid in recognizing signs and symptoms of a concussion.
[*] Administrators from all levels of football report a pronounced change in “culture” from the expectation that a player “get back in there” to one that encourages players to be honest about symptoms and coaches to err on the side of extreme caution.
[*] Certification programs that teach coaches how to recognize the symptoms of concussions.
[*] Training programs for coaches that emphasize that players should never use their helmets as weapons or lead with their heads when blocking or tackling.
[*] A new rule in the amateur football rule book that requires officials to report suspected concussed players to the coaching or medical staff during games.
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Picture provided by: CFL.ca
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