Atlanta personal injury lawyers have been encouraged to note the increasing focus on mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions in student athletes.The Center for Disease Control and Prevention may soon develop guidelines to be used for the treatment of student-athletes with concussions. A number of lawsuits have arisen out of personal injuries and wrongful deaths which occur during a sports event or in practice. Our firm is currently involved in one such case. Unfortunately, contact sports, while entertaining to watch, can be life changing for the athletes.
According to New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and Rep. Bill Pascrell, the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention has agreed to develop nationwide guidelines to be used for the management of sports-related concussions in student-athletes.Both of these lawmakers had sponsored a bill that would have made adoption of such protocols mandatory for all states.However, that bill has stalled in the Senate.
Some states have adopted guidelines to be followed by schools, coaches and other interested parties, whenever students suffer from concussions during play.However, there are no national standards in place, and considering the kind of effects from repeated concussions that we’re seeing now in professional football players, it is extremely urgent that we develop suitable guidelines to manage such concussions in student-athletes too.
Concussions are mild brain injuries that are caused by any impact to the head that causes the head to shake violently.For a long time, concussions were not treated with the seriousness that they deserved, and were considered minor injuries.Student athletes, especially those who play football, are subjected to multiple concussions during play, and for several years, these injuries were treated with minimal concern.Students in several schools are still expected to continue playing after they suffer concussions.
However, studies into the impact of multiple concussions among professional athletes of the National Football League have provided new insights into the dangers from repeated and multiple concussions.Concussions have been found to affect a person’s memory.They can also have an adverse impact on a person’s judgment abilities.His reflexes may be impaired, and there may be difficulties in speaking and slurred speech.A person’s balance as well as muscular coordination may also be affected.Worse, the symptoms of a concussion may actually become worse if the symptoms are not treated as quickly as possible.Besides, a person who suffers a second concussion after the first one has healed, stands to develop serious complications.
Safety experts and doctors have recommended that a student who suffers a concussion be given a period of rest, before he is allowed back into the field.The brain can begin to recover itself from the injury when it is allowed to relax, and this rest is of paramount importance in the process of healing. Doctors recommend not just abstaining from sports soon after a concussion, but may also abstaining from school, homework and other activities that strain the mind.The point is to get the brain enough time to recover.
Those kinds of recommendations are likely to figure in the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention national guidelines for the management of concussions in student-athletes.Atlanta personal injury lawyers expect that these guidelines will help in the management of concussions that are caused by other types of accidents, including car accidents and slip and fall accidents.