Orthopedic Associates Donations Assist NHS In Post-Concussion Assessments
Orthopedic Associates Donations Assist NHS In Post-Concussion Assessments
By Andy Hutchison
Dr Michael Brand of Danbury Orthopedic Associates, for the second year in a row, has donated $1,000 to Newtown High School Athletics for NHS Athletic Trainer Sabrina Byrne to implement ImPact (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing).
ImPACT is a computerized neuropsychological test that students take after suffering a head injury. It has become one of many tools at the high school to help determine when it is safe for a student-athlete to return to play after sustaining a concussion.
Newtown High School Athletic Director Gregg Simon said the entire athletic department, coaches, and student-athletes would like to thank Dr Brand for caring so much about the safety and health of the student-athletes.
Byrne said the testing is done at the high school in the computer labs. It takes about a half hour to take the test itself. The process includes various tests in verbal and visual memory skills, visual motor speed, reaction time, and impulse control.
âAll of our athletes are tested to get a baseline score in these skills. After they sustain a head injury they are then retested. When a head injury is sustained, more than likely all of the baseline scores drop a considerable amount due to the damage of the brain at the cellular level â hence a concussion,â Byrne said.
Last year, because the entire program was brand-new, Byrne had to test every NHS athletes so she has 879 tests under her care. Now that everyone is tested, from here on out every year Byrne will have to test all freshmen athletes and juniors, she noted. During the 2010-11 school year there were 21 concussions at NHS.
âImPact serves simply as another tool in helping determine just when it is safe for an athlete to return to play after sustaining a head injury. Before an athlete can even begin to exercise he/she must be sign and symptom-free for one week and their ImPact post-injury score must be back to its normal baseline score,â Byrne said.