"Unusual" behavior is not among the signs or symptoms of concussion listed in this post.

It is not about trust, it's about what happens to people with a rooting interest, who tend to see what they want to see. This is a well-known, well-documented psychological phenomenon called confirmation bias.

Being "noticeably wobbly" is imho an apparent symptom of a concussion, namely dizziness/poor balance. That this was dismissed as "dinged up" tells you all you really need to know about the team's commitment to the player's health and their observation of the law.

And though there's a chance this was a late onset symptom, it's likely that he was displaying this symptom during the game if he was still displaying after the game.

The problem is officials should not be making these decisions in the first place. For one there are times when we do not even see players actually leave the field. We have other responsibilities and often are not looking that closely at every player and this law just clearly does not understand the thought process of officials in a game. And only coaches, trainers, teammates and parents would know what a player is doing before, during and after a game to know if something is truly wrong.

Peace

The legislature passed a law that subordinates the decision of a doctor, trainer, coach or parent to that of an official who watched a video.

You infer that the cause was noble. Was there an epidemic of doctors and trainers putting clearly concussed players back in games under the NFHS rule that necessitated a change in Ohio law.

I just want to point out that the Ohio law does not require an official to keep a removed athlete from returning to competition unless he/she removed them from the contest in the first place (or had knowledge that the player was removed by somebody else for that reason).

I don't think the General Assembly is expecting the officials to know that a coach removed a player for a possible concussion and then sent him back in the game. But, if the official suspects a concussion and has the player removed, that official (and I hope the rest of the crew, whom he should have told) does have a legal duty to see that he stays off the field.

I skimmed over the last page of comments or so in this thread. And I'm not sure anybody has actually said that the officials should have removed him. Bigjohn's beef seems to be against the coaching staff/trainers, which make me wonder why he's posting about it here.

Probably not, but you know how politicians are...they "have to do something" about the issue of the day.

And it's not just NFHS games. This law applies to every level of youth sports, from the YMCA 4-year-old programs to the Varsity high school level. (Which now makes me wonder if my son's volunteer coach and official did the required CDC or NFHS concussion training last fall).

Because the rules and laws and memos from the DOD all seem to say that the officials ARE responsible for not letting a kid return to play that day, if anyone removed him, for what appear to be head injury, concussion like symptoms. It was clear when watching the game live on TV, never said I was in the stands, that the kid was dinged. Meaning he was a bit groggy. He came back in a threw a TD and played and appeared to be OK. The point is, he WAS removed for concussion symptoms and the rule and state law say he should be done for the day. He was not.

Who is at fault?

If what you are saying is true, than this is really not the place to post this honestly. If you claim officials are not expected to take players out of the game, than what the hell does that have to do with us here? We are not for the most part coaches or trainers. And BJ is making it sound like the officials were not dong their job, that is what he does here. And if the law is clear, there seems to be a lot of confusion as to what role officials actually play. I have no problem with a concussion policy, just do not put the officials as the main people responsible for what is noticed for symptoms of a medical condition. Once again the public thinks we have special powers because we have a stripped shirt on our back.

Peace

I don't think the law does put the officials as "the main people" responsible. They are, however, some of the people responsible. I guess I see it more as a shared responsibility.

It doesn't matter whether it is a coach or an official, whomever sees the concussion symptoms had a responsibility to remove the athlete and keep them from returning.

Unless you have knowledge that an official was the one who removed the athlete for a possible concussion, you're posting on the wrong forum.

Does the R have a responsibility to ask the trainer, "was he removed for head injury/concussion symptoms?"
For this rule to have any validity, I think he does.

This was sent to all coaches and officials. When a player is suspended, that is the R's duty to enforce, don't you think?

http://www.ohsaa.org/members/Memos/2013-08-30.pdf

What if the R has not idea why a player is removed from the game?

Once again you are asking the wrong people to be responsible for something that could easily take place without their knowledge. This is not basketball or soccer where every substitution is made with the direct supervision of the officials. Football players leave or enter the field anytime they get ready and often officials are making sure they have 11 on a side.

Peace

Yeah, well the reason everyone has had this class on concussion signs and symptoms are so he can see just that and implies that he should recognize when a player is being checked out on the field and notice this woosiness and wobbly appearance as he is being helped from the field by the trainer. This should be enough for him to decide that the coach should be informed that #5 is ineligible for the remainder of the day and can not return to play until cleared by proper medical authority as is stated in the release form I posted. Read #3, this is being sent to all officials and coaches and is clear that the player is suspended.

Having a class has nothing to do with recognizing if a player left the field for a concussion or concussion like symptoms. The player might be 50 yards downfield and the Referee might not even see the player go off the field. The Referee is concentrating on the line and the QB, not receivers downfield or even secondary players. So taking a class is not going to change that fact. Unless you want the official to ball watch, which they do not do. And this is why you have no idea how little sense this makes to require one official who is not watching all areas of the field just under their mechanics to know if a player has left the field for some kind of concussion.

Peace