Texas bill would require health screenings for athlete with concussions

3/30/11

Football, baseball, basketball and soccer. Texas is a sports-enthused state. Student athletes draw hundreds and thousands of fans to high school basketball courts and football fields each year.

But injury is common and student athletes, unless unconscious, often times return back to play without a proper health screening.

Hutto Head Football Coach Steve Hale says he loves his job and with a 9-2 record last year, is eager to win.

"We have three things why we're going to be a great football team, and the number one thing is we're going to be the most physical football team," said Hale.

But on his team, Hale pulls players from the field with any type of hit. But protection and prevention, combined with the right equipment, is what helps keep injuries down.

"That's the number one thing we want to make sure of, is our kids are provided for from the head down," said Hale.

Lawmakers this session say they want to look out for students who may not be left unconscious, but those who suffer a concussion.
"If a student athlete breaks a limb, they receive proper and timely medical intervention," said State Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo. "Concussion brain injuries, which are hidden from the human eye, deserve the same heightened concern and attention.

Price, along with State Sen. Bob Deuell, are proposing two pieces of legislation that would require athletes who sustain a concussion to be cleared by a doctor before returning to play, just the same as an athlete who is knocked unconscious.

"No one can tell us how many serious brain injuries get passed off as just a little bump or are ignored by players who are anxious to get back in the game," Price said. "Our youth deserve our fullest attention to these serious and potentially life altering events."

Price says the bills proposed are supported by coaches, athletic trainers, students, parents, physicians and even professional sports like the National Football League.

Deuell is a family physician who said, "Young people stand to suffer the most from neurological damage. The cell damage from a concussion temporarily interrupts brain activity at a minimum, and the worst-case scenario is that blood vessels are ruptured and the brain starts to bleed, which can be fatal."

Doctors say concussions occur because of impact that jolts the brain inside the skull. Dr. Douglas Fox, a neurosurgeon at the NeuroTexas Institute at St. David's Healthcare says screenings are important, even if a player regains normal senses shortly after being hit.

"People can come off the field and seem just fine although they're suffering from a concussion," said Fox.

Wednesday, former Longhorn Trey Newton said he made the tough choice of ending his football career early because of excessive concussions.

"Many people aren't blessed like I was to have people around me to tell me what could happen in my future if I kept playing football," he said.

Lawmakers hope enough support can be gained within the walls of the Capitol to move it out of committee and eventually protect students on courts and fields across Texas.