MONROE - Wisconsin has been a leader in concussion management and the Badger state is taking it a step further this season.
Gov. Scott Walker in April approved the Sidelined for Safety Act law which requires high school, club, YMCA and park and recreation athletes who have concussion symptoms to be cleared by a heath care professional before they can return to practice or games.
"We have been following a similar policy," said Eric Katzenberger, practice manager of sports medicine at Monroe Clinic. "It won't be much of a change for athletes around this area. We are kind of ahead of the game."
Under the WIAA's return-to-play policy, an athlete can return to practice and games when they are symptom-free with a doctor or certified athletic trainer's consent. The Monroe Clinic's ImPact testing the last several years has taken concussion management a step further by having athletes take a test so they can get back to their baseline score before returning to practice.
Monroe Clinic is one of the few hospitals across the state that uses the ImPact concussion-based testing program, which is used by many professional leagues including the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NCAA and NASCAR, according to Katzenberger. ImPact is a computer-based testing program that records an athlete's health history, current symptoms and neuropsychological data before an injury occurs so there is a baseline score. The baseline test measures an athlete's reaction time and concentration through a series of questions.
Both the Pecatonica-Argyle youth football and Pecatonica-Argyle high school football programs had players go through the ImPact concussion baseline testing program through Monroe Clinic's sports management department this season.
Keith Ritschard, director of the Pecatonica-Argyle youth football program and a seventh-grade coach, said he wanted to get his seventh-grade son, Brent, to take a baseline ImPact test. Ritschard said 50 of the 80 players in the Pecatonica-Argyle youth football program took the baseline ImPact test.
"There were some parents who were worried about concussions," Keith Ritschard said. "I think this is a good idea to put them at ease. I think for $10, it is a cheap way to get a baseline test."
This is the first time that Pecatonica High School has been a part of Monroe Clinic's concussion testing program.
"Argyle has done it and I just thought the time was right," Pecatonica-Argyle coach Larry Green said.
Monroe Athletic Director Dave Hirsbrunner said the school paid $500 to give fall athletes in each sport an opportunity to get baseline tested.
Other schools that have done ImPact concussion testing include Brodhead-Juda football, Darlington, New Glarus-Monticello football and Dakota.
Coaches and parents of athletes are now required to read and sign information about the dangers of concussions. Monroe Clinic's sports medicine department has seen an increase in treating athletes with concussions just in the last few years. In 2008, Monroe Clinic treated 13 athletes with concussions. That number more than doubled to 31 athletes in 2010. There were 38 athletes treated last year through ImPact testing at Monroe Clinic's sports medicine department and there were likely other concussion cases treated outside the clinic.
Katzenberger said the biggest change may come for YMCA and youth coaches at the park and recreation department who are being required to have concussion management training sessions or classes.
"They just won't be able to watch a video," Katzenberger said. "The parents that coach are not doctors. It's a law now and not a recommendation. It will prevent the parent that says to the coach 'my son is fine' and 'put him back in.'"
Gov. Scott Walker in April approved the Sidelined for Safety Act law which requires high school, club, YMCA and park and recreation athletes who have concussion symptoms to be cleared by a heath care professional before they can return to practice or games.
"We have been following a similar policy," said Eric Katzenberger, practice manager of sports medicine at Monroe Clinic. "It won't be much of a change for athletes around this area. We are kind of ahead of the game."
Under the WIAA's return-to-play policy, an athlete can return to practice and games when they are symptom-free with a doctor or certified athletic trainer's consent. The Monroe Clinic's ImPact testing the last several years has taken concussion management a step further by having athletes take a test so they can get back to their baseline score before returning to practice.
Monroe Clinic is one of the few hospitals across the state that uses the ImPact concussion-based testing program, which is used by many professional leagues including the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NCAA and NASCAR, according to Katzenberger. ImPact is a computer-based testing program that records an athlete's health history, current symptoms and neuropsychological data before an injury occurs so there is a baseline score. The baseline test measures an athlete's reaction time and concentration through a series of questions.
Both the Pecatonica-Argyle youth football and Pecatonica-Argyle high school football programs had players go through the ImPact concussion baseline testing program through Monroe Clinic's sports management department this season.
Keith Ritschard, director of the Pecatonica-Argyle youth football program and a seventh-grade coach, said he wanted to get his seventh-grade son, Brent, to take a baseline ImPact test. Ritschard said 50 of the 80 players in the Pecatonica-Argyle youth football program took the baseline ImPact test.
"There were some parents who were worried about concussions," Keith Ritschard said. "I think this is a good idea to put them at ease. I think for $10, it is a cheap way to get a baseline test."
This is the first time that Pecatonica High School has been a part of Monroe Clinic's concussion testing program.
"Argyle has done it and I just thought the time was right," Pecatonica-Argyle coach Larry Green said.
Monroe Athletic Director Dave Hirsbrunner said the school paid $500 to give fall athletes in each sport an opportunity to get baseline tested.
Other schools that have done ImPact concussion testing include Brodhead-Juda football, Darlington, New Glarus-Monticello football and Dakota.
Coaches and parents of athletes are now required to read and sign information about the dangers of concussions. Monroe Clinic's sports medicine department has seen an increase in treating athletes with concussions just in the last few years. In 2008, Monroe Clinic treated 13 athletes with concussions. That number more than doubled to 31 athletes in 2010. There were 38 athletes treated last year through ImPact testing at Monroe Clinic's sports medicine department and there were likely other concussion cases treated outside the clinic.
Katzenberger said the biggest change may come for YMCA and youth coaches at the park and recreation department who are being required to have concussion management training sessions or classes.
"They just won't be able to watch a video," Katzenberger said. "The parents that coach are not doctors. It's a law now and not a recommendation. It will prevent the parent that says to the coach 'my son is fine' and 'put him back in.'"
