Health Care Professional ?????????
 

BM - Was at the IAABO convention and Alan Goldberger said specifically to insist on a medical doctor that is willing to clear the player for his return to the game.

You might want to give Jeff Clark a ring / e-mail and ask him.

Unfortunately, that is not supported by the new rule. In fact, the reference to an MD (and to a written authorization to RTP) was actually removed in the rule. The NFHS specifically says that the "approved medical personnel" will depend on each state's laws and regulations. So each state will need to tell its officials who is approved to decide if the player can return to the game. The state might mandate a doctor, but they might not. They might say the trainer at the game is approved to make the decision. If that person says the kid is not concussed, then by rule, he can come back into the game.

It's The Law ...
 

According to Connecticut Public Act 10-62, An Act Concerning Student Athletes And Concussions, a Health Care Professional (HCP) is defined as: a Physician, a Physician's Assistant, an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, or an Athletic Trainer trained in the evaluation and management of concussions.

In your OP, the coach didn't have any TOs left. He was trying to keep the player in the game by not going on the court. Not allowed for any injury (unless, the player is ready to play "immediately" and it's not for concussion symptoms).

If you change the situation, you change the outcome.

Yeah, he did--in no uncertain terms!

There is a lengthy discussion of this (written by Goldberger, who is a lawyer) in the current IAABO newsletter. He does not say it must be a doctor. Instead, he quotes the rule and says officials must know what their state association determines to be "appropriate health-care professionals" which could be medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, and certified athletic trainers.

He offers this rather common sense advice:

At the end of the day, officials continue to be “empowered” to remove players, but need not obtain written credentials of the health-care professional on the sidelines.

MTD nails this situation perfectly. I am always slow to beckon the coach; but once I've made the decision to do so, it's been done and the player needs to be replaced. The coach cannot circumvent this requirement by refusing to come onto the court. Whether he comes or not, he's been beckoned.

Signs of a concussion would only make it more vital to follow the rules as written.

Showing signs of a concussion...really...did you go to school for this? Just because you fall down and hit your head doesn't mean you have a concussion. We need to be really really careful here.

Goodwill, obviously, I don't know you from Adam, so if I'm way off-base, I apologize in advance. But you seem to be WAY up on a high horse today. Your comments in three different threads seem to be talking down to others.

WTF is your comment above supposed to be getting at? BillyMac gave a GREAT example of how the new rule might play out in a real game. The rule says if the player shows "signs, symptoms or behaviors" of a concussion, the player MUST be removed from the game.

Very few refs are medical doctors who went to school to recognize concussions, yet the rules MANDATE that if we see signs, symptoms or behaviors of a concussion (and they give us several examples, plus a long training video online) that we act on that.

Obviously falling down doesn't mean that you have a concussion. But we're not given a rule about HAVING a concussion. We're given a rule about the signs, symptoms and behaviors of a concussion (which, you may recall, they have given us several examples of, as well as a long training video online).

So if you're trying to be funny somehow, or if you don't realize that you sound like an elitist prick (which I've been called on this forum many times, although I still contend I'm not an elitist), then I apologize. Otherwise, I really think you need to realize that there are lots of people on this forum who have a lot of knowledge and are trying to dig deeper into the rule than simply realizing that falling down does not necessarily give one a concussion.

Not sure what you're saying here. Are you suggesting that since Billy isn't an MD he can't recognize the signs of a concussion? You're right, of course, that just because the kid gets hit in the head does not mean he has a concussion. However, if Billy sees the hit to the head, followed by the player getting back up and stumbling in a way he hasn't before, and there's no obvious reason for the stumbling...sounds to me like Billy needs to be really, really careful to do what's right for the kid here.

Nope, Billy read the damn rule book instead. You should give it a shot because you obviously don't understand the application of the new rule that we've been given.

In the COMMENTS ON THE 2010-11 RULES REVISIONS at the back of the rulebook, we as officials are directed by the NFHS rulesmakers that "any player who exhibits signs, symptoms or behavior consistent with a concussion, such as loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion or balance problems, shall be immediately removed from play and shall not return until cleared by an appropriate health-care professional."

Yes, the FED sureashell wants us to be careful, but not in the way that you're suggesting. Their explicit instructions are "Officials, coaches and administrators should be looking for signs of concussion in all athletes and should immediately remove any suspected concussed athlete from play and make every effort to ensure a concussed athlete does not continue to participate."

Not only was your point completely wrong, it was the polar opposite of the instructions that the rules-makers have given us. Terrible advice!

As someone who knows most people from Adam, let me just ask one question.

You're saying there's a training video online?

Yes.

There's a link to it on the front page of nfhs.org

Field Sobriety Test ???
 

I didn't have to go to school to learn this. It's all on page 75 of the NFHS 2010-11 Basketball Rulebook.

Check it out:

Common Symptoms of Concussion Include:
• headache
• fogginess
• difficulty concentrating
• easily confused
• slowed thought processes
• difficulty with memory
• nausea
• lack of energy, tiredness
• dizziness, poor balance
• blurred vision
• sensitive to light and sounds
• mood changes- irritable, anxious, or tearful

Judging by those symptoms, I'm pretty sure I have a concussion this afternoon.