NCAA football rules related to concussions

Submitted by Bob The Wonder Dog on
Useful info to have in hand when debating culpability. 
 
 
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Injury Timeout
ARTICLE 5. a. In the event of an injured player(s):
1. An official will declare a timeout and the player(s) must leave the game. He must remain out of the game for at least one down. When in question, officials will take a timeout for an injured player.
2. The player(s) may not return to the game until he receives approval of professional medical personnel designated by his institution.
3. Officials and coaches shall give special attention to players who exhibit signs of a concussion. (See Appendix C).
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Appendix C
Concussions
A concussion is a brain injury that may be caused by a blow to the head, face, neck or elsewhere on the body with an “impulsive” force transmitted to the head. Concussions can occur without loss of consciousness or other obvious signs. A repeat concussion that occurs before the brain recovers from the previous one (hours, days or weeks) can slow recovery or increase the likelihood of having long-term problems. In rare cases, repeat concussions can result in brain swelling, permanent brain damage and even death.
Recognize and Refer: To help recognize a concussion, watch for the following two events among your student-athletes during both games and practices:
1. A forceful blow to the head or body that results in rapid movement of the head.
-AND-
2. Any change in the student-athlete’s behavior, thinking or physical functioning 
(see signs and symptoms).
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Signs Observed By Coaching Staff Symptoms Reported By Student-Athlete 
• Appears dazed or stunned. • Headache or “pressure” in head. 
• Is confused about assignment or position. • Nausea or vomiting. 
• Forgets plays. • Balance problems or dizziness. 
• Is unsure of game, score or opponent. • Double or blurry vision. 
• Moves clumsily. • Sensitivity to light. 
• Answers questions slowly. • Sensitivity to noise. 
• Loses consciousness (even briefly). • Feeling sluggish, hazy, foggy or groggy. 
• Shows behavior or personality changes. • Concentration or memory problems. 
• Can’t recall events before hit or fall. • Confusion. 
• Can’t recall events after hit or fall. • Does not “feel right.” 
An athlete who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion, either at rest or during exertion, should be removed immediately from practice or competition and should not return to play until cleared by an appropriate health care professional. Sports have injury timeouts and player substitutions so that student-athletes can get checked.
IF A CONCUSSION IS SUSPECTED:
1. Remove the student-athlete from play. Look for the signs and symptoms of concussion if your student-athlete has experienced a blow to the head. Do not allow the student-athlete to just “shake it off.” Each individual athlete will respond to concussions differently.
2. Ensure that the student-athlete is evaluated right away by an appropriate health care professional. Do not try to judge the severity of the injury yourself. Immediately refer the student-athlete to the appropriate athletics medical staff, such as a certified athletic trainer, team physician or health care professional experienced in concussion evaluation and management.
3. Allow the student-athlete to return to play only with permission from a health care professional with experience in evaluating for concussion. Allow athletics medical staff to rely on their clinical skills and protocols in evaluating the athlete to establish the appropriate time to return to play. A return-to-play progression should occur in an individualized, step-wise fashion with gradual increments in physical exertion and risk of contact. Follow your 
institution’s physician supervised concussion management protocol.
4. Develop a game plan. Student-athletes should not return to play until cleared by the appropriate athletics medical staff. In fact, as concussion management continues to evolve with new science, the care is becoming more conservative and return-to-play time frames are getting longer. Coaches should have a game plan that accounts for student-athletes to be out for at least the remainder of the day.
 
For further details please refer to the “NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook Guideline on Concussions” or online at www.NCAA.org/health-safety and www.CDC.gov/Concussion.
 

m1817

October 1st, 2014 at 7:12 AM ^

Sounds like the referee, who called a roughing penalty on Theiren Cockran, should have called an injury timeout.  The referee or one of the other officials on the field, were in the best positions to see Morris stumbling and supported by Ben Braden.  Michigan was not rushing to get to the line of scrimmage to run off another play at the time so they did not have to get into position right away for the next play.

maizenbluenc

October 1st, 2014 at 7:34 AM ^

can't just say "well it wasn't called on the field, so nothing we can do now"

Two things needs to be done:

1) Most importantly: similar to Michigan, the refs need to review what they saw when, and how they thought Shane was acting, and why they didn't see the replay on the board - or the replay official didn't say anything about the possibility of a head to head hit so both players involved could be checked on

2) They need to review the hit itself, and whay they didn't call it targeting and eject the defensive player - did the guy have his head down or up, etc.

And then they need to report their findings to the press as well.

danimal1968

October 1st, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^

is whether, or when, an official should call an injury timeout for a player who appears to be hurt but remains on his feet.  Remember that if they call an injury timeout for the QB he has to come out of the game.

They really ought to put some stuff in that rule saying when an official should call an injury timeout short of the player going to the ground.  Traditionally, the officials have rarely done that.

TraumaRN

October 1st, 2014 at 9:06 AM ^

I'd really love to make a post about concussions, I've got some great health care professional information about this kind of stuff and I'd love to be able to juxtapose this information against what we know about concussions and brain injuries. 

TraumaRN

October 1st, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^

What is a concussion?

 

A Concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that interferes with normal function of the brain. You cannot “see” a concussion on a CT or MRI scan and it is a clinical diagnosis based on patient history and symptoms, you do not have to have loss of consciousness (LOC) to have a concussion. Car crashes and sports injury are the leading causes of concussions  

 

Concussion Grading

From the American Academy of Neurology

•Grade I –Mild

–Short term confusion, post event amnesia, symptoms resolve in < 15 minutes

–NO LOC.

This is most likely what Shane had.

 

•Grade 2 –Moderate

–Symptoms last > 15 minutes

–Again NO LOC

 

•Grade 3 –Severe

–ANY Loss of Consciousness, plus above symptoms

 

When to Return to Play?

Grade 1 Mild

–Remove from contest

–Examine every 5 minutes for amnesia or post concussive symptoms.

–Can potentially return to play if symptoms resolve under 15 minutes with no residual effects.

 

Grade 2 Moderate (symptoms last longer than 15 minutes)

–Remove from contest

–Cannot return to play that day

–Examine on site on a frequent basis for signs of evolving intracranial problems

–Medical re-examination the next day

–CT or MRI if symptoms last more than one week

–Return to activity after 1 full week without symptoms

 

Grade 3 Severe

–Ambulance transport from field

–Emergent medical full neurological exam to include brain and spine, with possible CT and/or MRI

–May go home that day with head injury instructions if otherwise stable

–Hospital admission if symptomatic

–For LOC < 1 minute, return to play only after asymptomatic for 1 week

–For LOC > 1 minute, return to play only after asymptomatic for 2 weeks

 

Why are concussions so dangerous in football??

Second Impact Syndrome

Second Impact Syndrome is a condition in which the brain swells rapidly and potentially fatally after a person suffers a second concussion before symptoms from an earlier one have subsided. It is often times fatal, and if not fatal then it leaves the person permanently disabled. It is caused by blood vessels in the brain losing the ability to regulate their own diameter and results in massive overload of blood to the brain causing rapid swelling as the skull is a fixed space. This usually leads to brain herniation and then death.

 

The 6 ‘No Go’ signs

•Loss of Consciousness

•Confusion

•Amnesia

•New and/or persistent symptoms, such as headache and nausea

•Abnormal neurological findings, such as balance issues, (remember Shane stumbling?)

•Progressive, persistent, or worsening symptoms

I was surprised no one mentioned or at least I haven’t seen anyone mention the 2012 Steelers/Browns game where James Harrison hit Colt McCoy.

McCoy sent back into the game 2 plays later and less than 5 minutes after being hit. The hit was a near mirror image of what happened to Shane.

 

What do we need to do? The biggest thing is to increase awareness of the general public. Encourage the public to demand player safety. Unfortunately this incident with Shane is not how you’d like to increase awareness. Rather it needs to start with education of parents, coaches and players as soon as they begin playing football(or other high impact sport) and continue throughout their career. The macho rub some dirt on it culture needs to stop. Eventually it’ll lead to a player being killed or disabled on the field. The push for safer helmets with impact sensors needs to continue. And if I am being frank, they should be mandatory across all levels of football and if they detect a hit with an impact that could cause potential brain injury pull that player from the game.

Mandatory coach education is a must, and I realize many places it is already the standard but it still is clearly is not enough as we have seen. Once you get to the major college and pro level you need certified athletic trainers and neurologists on the sidelines or in the booth and preferably both. They need the power to override coaches and refs. Period. If we're to be serious about player safety this needs to happen on the college level. The NFL is pretty much there with this. 

If there is any doubt about a head injury then immediately sit the player out, start cognitive testing and no return to play on that same day even if the symptoms resolve or aren’t readily apparent. Brain injuries can take time before symptoms become readily apparent. 

And really how important is a game compared to being alive?

 

TraumaRN

October 1st, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^

Thank you for the feedback.

Do you suggest a post on the board or as a diary post? Whichever you think is best is where I'll put it. 

Thank you mgofairy I much appreciate it. 

I wrote this up because lost in all of this is what a concussion is and WHY it is so important to protect the players.

LSAClassOf2000

October 1st, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^

With this topic, this seems like a good diary to me because it is detailed and makes the point in a very good, thoughtful way. Diaries don't generate as many responses as board posts generally, but the responses tend to be better quality in the diaries.