Head case: Tracking student athlete concussions in Illinois
An ABC7 I-Team Investigation
CHICAGO (WLS) -- As football seasons kick off, the I-Team wanted to find out how many concussions are happening in Illinois high school sports. What they learned is that nobody is keeping track.
Illinois has the first state governing body for high school sports in the country to be facing a lawsuit over how concussions are handled. Even as that head case against the IHSA plays out in the courts, the I-Team has learned of a gaping hole in concussion prevention. No one in Illinois keeps track of how many cases there are or any of the details.
"Drew was running back, carrying the ball, took double hit on the same play from the front and back and that was it," said Tracey Mayer, mother and concussion safety advocate.
Drew Fernandez doesn't remember much of what happened during that freshman football game in suburban Barrington seven years ago.
"I was bleeding either from my mouth or my nose and I just really wasn't responding," Fernandez said.
The diagnosis was a concussion. Long after the impact, he battled headaches, fatigue , fogginess. The injury affected his academic performance.
Much has changed since his injury. Illinois is now tackling student athlete safety. There are new concussion laws and protocols, oversight committees and return to play policies. But is it enough?
Fernandez was never required to report his concussion to any organization or officials. Today in Illinois, that's still the case.
"What is the point of implementing these policies and rules and these kinds of things if you can't measure the effectiveness in every way possible," Mayer said.
The I-Team has learned an injury like his will not show up on an official tally in Illinois. No one knows from school to school or sport to sport how many concussions are really happening.
"People are so afraid of the word concussion that they are actually afraid to see an actual number associated with concussions," said Dustin Fink, The Concussion Blog.
Dustin Fink is an athletic trainer and outspoken concussion blogger in central Illinois has been pushing for a counting system for years.
Neither the state nor the Illinois High School Association which governs interscholastic sports statewide requires concussions be tracked.
"It has been a topic we've discussed at this point the membership hasn't said this is something they're wanting the association to take on as a project," said Kurt Gibson, Assoc. Exec. Director of the IHSA.
Other states are now counting and gathering data. For example, Michigan's high school athletic association just unveiled a pilot program mandating record keeping and Indiana is testing out a voluntary counting system.
"We've received over 2,100 reports of concussive events during the 2014-15 school season," said Bobby Cox, commissioner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association. "It's more difficult to tell if we are having more or not because we didn't record them years ago."
Advocates say you have to start somewhere. Physicians explain that if you don't know the true rate of the injury or illness it's impossible to implement effective change.
IHSA committee members say it's a monumental task to take on.
"I think we need to solve the logistical issue of who's reporting how are we standardizing the injuries and how can we insure the data is accurate. so this is what our committee is discussing right now," said Dr. Cynthia LaBella, IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
Drew Fernandez never went back to high school football. He's now tackling college class work and migraines he says are the result of the concussion.
"I always thought I would have healed," Fernandez said.
Fernandez would like his concussion and other head injuries to be counted so more can be learned about keeping young players safe.
"The change that needs to happen needs to come from the schools. it needs to come from the school administrators and school coaches. They are the ones that basically make this happen," Fink said.
The Centers for Disease Control suggests states consider collecting concussion data.
Despite not doing that, IHSA officials tell the I-Team their concussion safety efforts are aggressive and on par with other states. They say an ongoing national research project called RIO provides a quality snap shot of rates, patterns and trends of high school sports-related injuries.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Illinois High School Association
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study
National Conference State Legislatures: Traumatic Brain Injury Legislation, Injury Prevention Legislation Database, Traumatic brain injuries among young athletes
