Bay Area high school athletes first in California to receive innovative concussion education program from Dignity Health Concussion Network with support of San Francisco 49ers and California Interscholastic Federation, plus others
With the recent release of the movie Concussion the issue of brain trauma in sports is back on center stage, and whether or not the timing is a coincidence, something is actually being done about the problem by Dignity Health right here in the Bay Area that will potentially benefit 200,000 local student-athletes.
In response to the estimated 300,000 student-athletes nationwide between the ages of 14 and 18 who have sustained serious brain trauma from playing a spot, Dignity Health’s Barrow Neurological Institute and the Dignity Health Foundation are launching the Dignity Health Concussion Network to the Bay Area. The program is a first of its kind student-athlete-based approach to concussion education and prevention.
The project is being initiated with support from the San Francisco 49ers, California Interscholastic Federation, UC San Francisco and ImPACT.
Four Bay Area high schools – Overfelt-San Jose, George Washington-San Francisco, Berkeley and Carlmont-Belmont, have been selected to receive Dignity Health Concussion Network’s comprehensive concussion education, cognitive assessments, and pre-and-post concussion testing. In addition, 34 other Bay Area high schools will receive training to launch the key educational tool of Dignity Health Concussion Network called Barrow Brainbook.
Barrow Brainbook is an online program created by neurologists at Dignity’s Barrow Institute in Phoenix. The interactive tool takes high school athletes through a series of educational activities and videos about concussions. At the end of the educational module, the students are required to pass a formal exam before being cleared to play. The exam distinguishes this educational program from any other in the United States.
The Barrow Brainbook was first introduced in Arizona in 2011, making it the first mandatory education module for all high school athletes in the country. While almost half of high school concussions occur in football, brain trauma can be prevalent in other high school sports including soccer, lacrosse, wrestling and hockey. Even cheerleading and springboard diving have potential for concussions.
To launch the program, Dignity Health brought Dr. Javier Cardenas to the Bay Area on February 3 to conduct a “Train the Trainers” session at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City. Cardenas is the director of the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center in Phoenix.
Athletic directors and athletic trainers from Overfelt, Washington, Berkeley and Carlmont were on hand for the comprehensive 4-hour session that was covered by KGO-TV and KTVU-TV, KCBS-radio, and Prep2Prep acting as a representative of the California Prep Sports Media Association.
“We’re thrilled to expand this program into the Bay Area,” Cardenas said. “Concussions are always serious and 90-percent of them are difficult to spot because they don’t result in a loss of consciousness. It’s important for student-athletes, coaches, trainers and parents to be fluent in the symptoms of a concussion so that they can seek the important medical attention that they need.”
One of the benefits of the program is there are no costs for the schools involved. Funds are provided by sponsors including the San Francisco 49ers.
“Dignity Health Concussion Network is a powerful way to help student-athletes stay healthy for the long term,” says Jed York, CEO of the 49ers. “The program is a critical step in protecting and educating young athletes.”
“We are proud to help bring this proven program to the Bay Area, continued York, whose 49ers foundation has donated over $30 million since 1992 to support non-profits.
Education as a cornerstone
What is also intriguing about the program is the athletic directors and trainers are part of an educational process, and educating student-athletes is what our schools are really all about.
“Education for the kids is huge. It’s the missing link in the process,” CIF Executive Director Roger Blake told Prep2Prep.
“We educate our coaches about concussions and we have safety measures in place but the kids need to be educated as well,” continued Blake. “Kids usually know when a teammate is hurt so it’s vital that we make the kids part of the process.”
Some schools are even receiving additional financial support. For Overfelt it means money for an athletic trainer they haven’t been able to afford in the recent past.
“Overfelt has gotten additional support and Washington is in line once we get some details worked out,” said Nancy Bussani, the Dignity Health Foundation Vice-President of Philanthropy.
“Our Superintendent asked us to participate and we know its going to be a lot of work, but part of the program was we got funding for an athletic trainer for 18 months and that was huge because we haven’t had money for a trainer,” said Overfelt Athletic Director Mark Delgado.
Delgado, who previously was a certified athletic trainer attended the “Train the Trainers” session with the woman hired at Overfelt with the funding, San Jose State senior Adrianna McManus.
Representing Berkeley was the school’s certified athletic trainer Lauren Small who actually works for the UCSF Benoit Children’s Hospital in Oakland
Washington Athletic Director Larry Chan was in Redwood City as well.
“It was between us and Balboa in San Francisco and I’m shockingly surprised but very pleased we were selected. The Dignity program and support is huge for our athletic department,” Chan remarked. “I only wish we could share it with Balboa.”
When Delgado mentioned work he was talking about the fact that the Barrow Brainbook first involves the education portion followed by testing and then case management.
“For this program to be successful everyone involved has to buy into it, particularly the coaches,” Cardenas told the group at Sequoia Hospital.
“We were very careful in selecting the schools because we wanted the utmost support from the administration on down,” Bussani remarked.
Making athletics safe
After Dr. Cardenas went through over three hours of training the last portion of the session was conducted by Dr. Cindy Chang of UC San Francisco. Dr Chang is an advisor to the National Federation of State High School Associations and has been on the CIF Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for nearly 20 years.
Besides taking the participants through a series of slides about concussion protocols and showing them where much of the information is housed on the CIF web site, Chang talked about why she and the other sponsors of the program are so committed to addressing and helping with issues relating to brain trauma and the concerns of parents.
“We’re here to keep our kids playing sports,” Chang said. “The goal is to make athletics safe for our kids so parents aren’t scared to let their kids play sports.”
CIF buy-in imperative
The consensus among Cardenas, Chang and Bussani is the buy-in of the CIF is also imperative to the success of the program, and all three mentioned the CIF’s Blake as being a key to the support of the state’s high school sports governing body.
“We’ve been a partner with them from the beginning, and our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee has been involved from the very beginning as well,” Blake said.
Look for Prep2Prep to have updates during the school year on the progress of the Barrow Brainbook program at Overfelt and Washington.
For information on concussions from the CIF and the CIF Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and laws and other information on return to play protocol, etc., click here
