A seminar on ImPACT

A couple of weeks ago, a few of my colleagues and I travelled to Pittsburgh to attend a seminar on the use of the ImPACT software for TBI testing.  (Never mind that Pittsburgh is a really tough place to navigate for someone who has never been in the city.)  The course was an excellent presentation that offered a full explanation on how to interpret the scores that student-athletes will receive after taking the exam.  It also was highly productive in understanding some of the errors that may occur in the test because the student athlete did not follow directions on the exam.  While I have had some previous experience with the software, hearing about some of the subtleties of the scoring will certainly help in the interpretation of the scores.  I am looking forward to implementing the program in full after the first of the year.

The CDC offers a lot of resources free

Another website that has a lot of lockerroom material to hang on posterboards for coaches.  The CDC offers many of them free of charge.

Addendum 11/18/2010:
Also, the Defense Centers of Excellence has some resources that are more applicable to military personnel, but the concepts are very similar.

I hope the NATA sends the AAN a big fruit basket for Christmas this year.

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) released a statement that gave athletic trainers a huge endorsement for what we do every day.  "The AAN issued five specific guidelines in the statement, which recommends that any athlete suspected of having a concussion should be removed from participation until he or she is seen by a physician trained in the evaluation and management of sports concussions, and that an athletic trainer should be present at all practices and games where a concussion might occur."  Needless to say, this can offer athletic trainers some additional job security in this very tight economy.  That is something that everybody is looking for today.

Another part of their statement states that a neurologist or a physician with proper training should be referred to when return to play decisions are being made for any athlete who has been diagnosed with a TBI.  Once again, I feel they are reinforcing a point that all athletic trainers would agree with.  In particular, I would hate to see a physician allow a kid to RTP when their field of practice doesn't require them to be well versed in TBIs, such as a urologist or an obstetrician.  While they may be very good at what they do, most specialists who have not been trained to work with TBIs have not been exposed to it since medical school.