By / Todd Jackson, Sr. Manager,
Risk and Safety, Hockey Canada
The word ‘concussion’ has become all too common not only in the hockey world but in the sporting world on the whole.
This is of deep concern to Hockey Canada.
“Whether it’s in the National Hockey League, youth hockey, or any level in between, every effort should be made to prevent head injuries,” says Bob McKenzie of TSN who is passionate about preventing concussions. “With hockey being a contact game, it’s unavoidable to have some concussions. But if we all do a better job of identifying concussions when they do occur and make sure the player isn’t rushed back into play, we will go a long way towards minimizing the dreadful effects that concussions can cause.”
But it’s not just hockey. More and more athletes, both professional and amateur, are coming forward to talk about their experiences with concussions. Some were lucky and through proper medical referral have recovered while others continue to have symptoms years following their initial injury with the hope that one day modern science will help them to recover fully.
Hockey Canada believes that prevention along with proper follow up is the key. By educating players, parents, coaches, trainers, administrators and the medical community we strengthen both prevention and affective return to play protocol.
“Education is the key,” says McKenzie who has had personal experience with his own two hockey-playing sons and sees it all too often while covering professional sports. “If everyone has a better understanding of what a concussion is, when a player has been concussed and what to do about it, we all win. But no one wins if we blindly ignore the issue of concussions and pretend they don’t exist…because they do and they can be career-ending and quality of life-threatening like no other injury in the game today”.
One way Hockey Canada educates its members is to team up with organizations such as the Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund and Think First Canada to deliver one day concussion seminars. This past November, 200 participants attended the Hockey Canada Concussion Seminar in Winnipeg Manitoba. The seminar included top speakers including neurosurgeons, sport medicine physicians, equipment and mouth guard experts, and top flight trainers.
A highlight of the seminar was the personal story of Craig Heisinger, the General Manager and Senior Vice-President of the Manitoba Moose.
Heisinger and his son Jake, a Midget AAA player in the Winnipeg area, gave a real life account of what they went through dealing with the two concussions Jake suffered during this past year.
Their presentation was a real life account of the trials and tribulations a player goes through when he suffers a concussion. More importantly, Jake’s father, a former trainer and equipment manager, knew the proper course of action. Yet he disclosed his own feelings and how he wavered in his own mind and wrestled as a caring parent. Together, they eventually came to the right decision that Jake should not play. The message; ensure that a player is completely healthy before returning to play.
Everyone involved in sport has a responsibility to ensure our young people avoid concussions. However, if they do suffer a concussion, they must be diagnosed, treated and follow the proper return to play protocol.
Hockey Canada continues to make every effort to educate its members in an effort to reduce concussions in the great game of hockey.
For more information on this topic please visit www.drpashby.ca and www.thinkfirst.ca. |
