Some state leaders are behind a bill requiring youth sports organizations and schools to stick to distinct protocols if an athlete sustains a head injury.
Senator Joe Baldacci in Bangor says concerned parents of a higher college football player had been worried about how concussions are handled.
Baldacci says the proposed bill would update the current concussion and injury prevention protocols for young student athletes.
Chris Theodores is a sophomore at Saint Joseph’s College. He says he suffered 3 concussions though playing soccer at middle and higher college, with a handful of minor head injuries.
Theodores thinks Maine schools must have additional clearly set suggestions for what to do when a student suffers a concussion.
“The final diagnosed concussion I had was really really serious,” mentioned Theodores, “I was left unconscious at my final higher college soccer game.”
Theodores says simply because of these several concussions, he can no longer play soccer.
“I consider getting additional strict protocols would surely hold youngsters out for the correct quantity of time,” mentioned Theodores.
Baldacci claims not each and every college in Maine has the similar guidelines when it comes to dealing with sports concussions.
“There’s hundreds of college districts in Maine and we have really uneven application,” mentioned Baldacci.
The bill states that student athletes with head injuries have to total a return to play protocol for at least seven days and be monitored by a health-related specialist.
“It’s critical to have a common that requires a health-related specialist,” mentioned Baldacci.
The proposed bill calls for that a health-related specialist provides written permission for the athlete to return to return to play.
Theodores believes this protocol would also aid students from themselves. He admits that he would prevent telling health-related experts about his head injuries so that he could hold playing.
“A lot of youngsters are possibly placing the sport ahead of their brain and I surely did that up to a specific point,” mentioned Theodores.
Baldacci says the bill has gotten a lot of help, such as endorsements from the Maine CDC and the acquired brain injury advisory council of Maine.
He says the bill was modeled right after California’s statute, which has one particular of the most up to date protocols in the nation.