Missouri Considers Concussion-Sports Law – What About Wisconsin?

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Posted on 12th February 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Missouri is the latest state to be considering legislation regarding concussions and young athletes. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6859080.html

The proposed Missouri law, which targets high school players, mandates that athletes remain benched from practice or games until they get approval to return from a licensed health care worker trained in evaluating concussions.

The Missouri law is modeled after Washington state’s concussion legislation, which is named after Zackery Lystedt, a teen who sustained brain trauma after returning to a football game right after getting a concussion.

The Missouri State High School Activities Association says athletes shouldn’t get back on the field the same day they suffer a concussion. The group also recommends that players who sustain three concussions in a season should be barred from playing the rest of the season, and not be allowed to return to play until having a medical check-up.

The Missouri state association also mandates that athletes who lose consciousness can’t come back to play the same day without written permission from a doctor.

There are 3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussion each year, according to the Brain Injury Association of America.

Wisconsin hopefully won’t be far behind. For an excellent local resource on sports concussion, see http://wisportsconcussion.org/