1. Quiz your children about each game: Chip Holm's son, Ben, suffered three concussions while playing for the North Andover football team during the 2008 season. Ben, now a senior, still suffers from headaches. Chip Holm suggests to parents: "Parents need to educate themselves on the symptoms of what concussions are and there's some things they can do to check immediately following the event. ... If parents were at the game at least, they could see if the student-athlete remembered certain events. That's the key thing. ... Parents need to be keenly aware of the events that transpired during the game and quiz their kids after."
2. Consult physician about computerized baseline testing: Chip Holm also suggested that parents consult with their child's physician about getting baseline testing. "I think going forward both the schools and the parents need to be more progressive and to get the baselines. With the budgets the way they are, I can't blame the schools for not doing that but I think a parent whose children are going into a contact sport should consult their physician and get a baseline so they can have something they can refer to."
3. Don't play sports with symptoms: Salem, N.H., High School football player Brad Letendre was unable to return to football this past season after suffering a concussion in September. "It's a severe injury and you don't want to mess with your head,'' he said. "You need that for life. I would say definitely wait until it gets better. You don't want to rush it because then worse things could happen and you could actually end up dying if it gets bad enough."
4. Remember that a concussion is an injury, not just pain: North Andover senior Ben Holm, who missed his entire senior football season, emphasized: "I think a lot of players, they need to realize that when they're trying to distinguish between pain and injury and they sit out with an injury — that a concussion is just not pain. It's a serious injury."
5. Don't let your child talk you into playing: Judell Schlachter's daughter, Pinkerton Academy junior Emily Schlachter, suffered at least her third concussion during a varsity soccer practice in September. Judell Schlachter suggests to parents: "You may have to go up against your own child because they're dedicated, they've worked hard and they want to do this. It's hard for them to quit. It's hard for a coach to let a good player quit. So you often have to step in and act in the best interest of your child for their health."
6. Be aware concussions can happen at practice, too: Brad Letendre suffered his concussion during a Salem, N.H., High School football practice. His mother, Lisa Letendre, suggests that people not brush off a hit just because it happened at practice and not during a game. She said: "(Brad's) neurologist said he's seen a lot more concussions in practices than in games." She added: "It was hard (to know he had a concussion) because it was at practice. We physically didn't see it. It wasn't like we were at the game and saw him get hit."
7. Don't be fooled by different symptoms when repeat concussions happen: Swansea resident Ed Hill's stepdaughter, Michelle Pelton, has had seven concussions and did not have all of the same symptoms each time. Hill said, "The mistake people make is they think the symptoms are always the same."
8. Visit a doctor who knows about sports concussion management: Dr. Neal McGrath said he does not think every student-athlete who sustains a concussion should see one specific type of doctor. "Rather any student-athlete who has had a concussion needs to see someone who understands concussion recovery and can guide them to a point of full recovery before they go back to contact sports," McGrath said. "There are some pediatricians who are excellent with that, some primary care doctors, some neurologists and some neurophysiologists. And there are probably examples of doctors in every one of those groups who don't understand current concussion management practice and don't see a lot of sports cases, so they may not fully appreciate the techniques and guidelines for concussion management."
Dr. Robert Cantu said the worst question a doctor can ask to determine whether a concussion is healed or not is "Well, how do you feel?" He said that's not a strong way to determine whether someone is over a concussion. He said a doctor should do a thorough job of asking about post-concussion symptoms. "So if their doctor seems to have done a thorough job of questioning them on post-concussion symptoms, seems to have done a thorough neurological examination, then I think there are many, many primary care (doctors) and pediatricians who are adequately capable of knowing when someone can go back after concussion," he said.
9. Keep a close eye on the player after a hit: Salem High head athletic trainer Sean Cox carefully watches a football player after a rough collision. "I'm going to keep an eye on that kid and how he is in the next couple plays," Cox said. "And if he comes off for a sub, I'm going to walk up to him and look in his eyes and say, 'Wow, that was a great hit. How are you feeling? What's going on?'"
10: Know your players well: Methuen High trainer Al DeLano said knowing each athlete's personality always helps. "Just start firing questions at the kid," DeLano said. "Or crack a joke. If you know that they're normally a friendly, outgoing kind of kid and they don't respond to a joke, then you can definitely tell when something's going on." Andover High football coach John Rex also said coaches need to know their athletes well. "Then you know when your kids are not behaving or acting the way they normally are after taking a hit," he said. "I also think if you create an atmosphere where the kids are comfortable about coming to you, then they know they're not going to be chastised."
