Trainers ensure players physical health

Pierce College Athletic Department emphasizes procedures and guidelines for head injuries

Raymond Garcia Sports Editor

Injuries are not uncommon for athletes; however, a head injury can alter a person’s life in an instance and Pierce is taking the necessary precautions to help its players.

In recent years, due to the awareness of head injuries — more specifically concussions — professional and collegiate levels of athletics have made it a priority to deal with these types of injuries more seriously.

Pierce Athletic Trainer Leonard Ramirez has made it an emphasis on the players that a head injury is something that should not be taken lightly.

“If you have a concussion you need to tell someone. You can’t hide it like back in the old days,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez has adopted guidelines from the National Collegiate Athletic Association for himself and his staff to follow.

“The NCAA basically has put in some guidelines since 2009 and we follow what they do to help test for concussions,” Ramirez said.

Part of the procedure to educate the athletes about concussions includes players watching a video done by ESPN’s “E:60” about former college athlete Preston Prevletes.

“The players are required to watch this video,” said Athletic Director Bob Lofrano.

Newly-hired athletic trainer Robert Horowrtz said that watching the Prevletes video is not only for the players but for the coaches as well.

“Even the coaches are required to see a video on concussions and they are supposed to sign off that they have seen the video, they understand the video and understand the consequences of the concussion,” Horowrtz said.

The documentary not only shows the importance of dealing with a concussion properly, but playing with this type of injury too soon could be fatal.

“It is the second concussion that is the dangerous one, not the original/initial one,” Ramirez said.

Horowrtz added onto Ramirez’s comment, explaining what occurs in the brain after the initial concussion.

“When you originally get a concussion there is a cascade and all different types of chemical reactions are going on and you have to let that settle down,” Horowrtz said. “If any trauma happens at that crucial period it goes down hill really quick.”

The athletic trainers and their staff try to avoid getting to this position by working diligently to assess the situation efficiently with the procedures they have been implementing.

“We give everyone a baseline test before the season starts. We are getting these kids when they are supposed healthy with no dings on them, no injuries,” Ramirez said.

These tests help give the trainers a marker for each athlete in the case of a head injury to help diagnose them properly.

NCAA Adopted Concussion Management Plan Legislation

Concussion Management Plan. An active member institution shall have a concussion management plan for its student-athletes. The plan shall include, but is not limited to, the following:

(a) An annual process that ensures student-athletes are educated about the signs and symptoms of concussions.

Student-athletes must acknowledge that they have received information about the signs and symptoms of concussions and that they have a responsibility to report concussion-related injuries and illnesses to a medical staff member;

(b) A process that ensures a student-athlete who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion shall be removed from athletics activities (e.g., competition, practice, conditioning sessions) and evaluated by a medical staff member (e.g., sports medicine staff, team physician) with experience in the evaluation and management of concussions;

(c) A policy that precludes a student-athlete diagnosed with a concussion from returning to athletic activity (e.g., competition, practice, conditioning sessions) for at least the remainder of that calendar day; and

(d) A policy that requires medical clearance for a student-athlete diagnosed with a concussion to return to athletics activity (for example, competition, practice, conditioning sessions) as determined by a physician (e.g., team physician) or the physician’s designee.

Symptoms of a Concussion:

Thinking and memory

Not thinking clearly

Feeling slowed down

Not being able to concentrate

“If something were to happen on the volleyball court or football field then we retest them with that same test to check differences,” Ramirez said.

Horowrtz explains that at a game when a concussion occurs they hold the player out and go through some questions similar to the original test and there is a score the trainers look at. After that they test the player again a day or two later.

“There’s a prescreen, injury screen and postinjury screen,” Horowrtz said. “There are certain numbers we look for.”

Despite the guidelines and procedures of the present, the trainers have to look into the athletes past as well.

“Sometimes the athletes will not remember or tell us that they have had a previous concussion and usually that’s where we have to make sure that they are very clear on that because if they are not clear on that it skewers everything,”