"This is happening every day to athletes young and old," Pascrell said Tuesday, in reminding all of a staggering statistic, that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there occur an estimated 3.8 million concussions related to sports and recreation every year.
New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., stood together at a Washington press conference to promote a long-needed piece of legislation called the “The Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act (ConTACT)”, which would set federal standards for recognizing and treating athletes with concussions, and develop guidelines for allowing them to return to the field or court.
The legislation, which will not grab major headlines in these days when the health care debate is playing out, along with a potential jobs initiative, is important nonetheless. Its unveiling comes at the same time we watch Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger continue to play even after suffering his fourth concussion since 2006.
No doubt, Roethlisberger’s a tough guy, a guy any football coach would want on his team. I was talking the other day to a doctor friend, whom I happen to know is a big Steelers fan, and I joked that the only way they would ever get Roethlisberger to quit “would be to shoot him.”
It seemed funny at the time. After reading Jackson’s story and gaining a better grasp of the issue, though, one thing is certain: A head injury is no laughing matter. Indeed, we are reminded of devastating injuries, and even the deaths of high school athletes from North Jersey to other parts of the country. And as the press conference this week revealed, head trauma can also occur in sports such as lacrosse, basketball and soccer.
“This is happening every day to athletes young and old,” Pascrell said Tuesday, in reminding all of a staggering statistic, that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there occur an estimated 3.8 million concussions related to sports and recreation every year.
I suspect there are many middle school and high school coaches across North Jersey already who take care to be extra cautious in regard to head injuries or concussions. And I suspect that many or most parents of athletes do the same.
The ConTACT legislation, though, would bring needed uniformity to prevention guidelines and lay some ground rules on treatment. Importantly, it would also provide for a mechanism for baseline, preseason neuropsychological testing of athletes in Grades 6-12.
These are real and measurable steps that can be taken now, and should be.
The brain is the key to our being, the nerve center of our existence. As we learn too often, though, it is vulnerable to trauma. The bill being pushed along by Pascrell and Menendez would serve to give it one more layer of protection. In my mind, it’s one sensible piece of reform on which we could all agree.
laxbuzz
