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Today D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson introduces a bill on student athlete concussions to the council. The bill was the brainchild of Joseph Cammarata, president of the Brain Injury Association of DC, and supported by Dr. Gerry Gioia, a pediatric brain injury specialist. The List spoke to them about why concussions among the District’s student athletes deserve attention.

1. The grown-ups aren’t taking concussions seriously.

   “There’s adult supervision,” Cammarata says, “but the adults have lost their minds.” That’s why in addition to requiring a concussed player to be removed from the game and not allowed to return without written clearance from a health professional, it encourages education for players and coaches who might not be treating brain trauma seriously.

2. Concussion leads to dramatic problems for kids.

   Gioia says trauma is uglier for young brains than it is for adults: “School performance is affected; kids are so fatigued, their headaches hurt so badly they can’t go out with their friends; their lives are significantly limited.” A developing brain is more vulnerable to concussion.

3. The national statistics are startling, but not as startling as the reality.

   One study reported nearly 100,000 concussions last year for football players alone – a figure Gioia says is definitely too low. “Most national statistics are at best a guess,” he says. “Less than one in 10 concussions on an athletic field have loss of consciousness,” he explains, which means most aren’t counted as concussions at the time.

4. There are no local statistics.

   Which Mendelson says “could be part of the problem as well.” He adds, “It’s just accepted that kids playing sports are going to have concussions, and that’s not a good thing.” There is certainly no shortage of concussions in the area—Gioia treats 40 kids a week for brain trauma at his clinics.

5. Football concussions get the attention, but all sports can produce brain trauma.

   Concussions are common even when the kids aren’t supposed to run into each other. Baseball produces plenty of knocks on the head, and one study suggests that cheerleaders sustain a uniquely high percentage of concussions at practice. Cammarata, who got the NFL involved in the bill, indicates an interest in reaching out to other sports associations.

6. Quell the urge to say that the kids are being babied.

   “Come sit in our clinics and see what happens to kids’ lives,” Gioia says.