Citing increased awareness on the dangers of head injuries, a neurologist said he expects an increase in the number of concussions reported this fall by Arizona high school football players.
High school junior Rudy Ayala knows all too well the impact of concussions. He continues to recover from head trauma he suffered in August 2014. On Wednesday, he encouraged players to tell their coaches if they think something might be wrong.
Ayala was a straight-A student and a defensive lineman for Tempe High School’s junior-varsity team. But his world changed when his head collided with another player he tried to tackle during warmups for a game.
“I almost fell down,” Ayala said. “I lost my vision, my hearing (and) my balance.”
Ayala said his coach immediately sent him to the athletic trainer. When he collapsed while trying to stand up, the trainer called paramedics who rushed Ayala to the hospital. The next day, Ayala started working with Dr. Javier Cárdenas, medical director of the Barrow Neurological Institute’s Concussion and Brain Injury Center.
“What’s also critically important in Rudy’s experience is the fact that an athletic trainer was available at his school,” Cárdenas said. “In the state of Arizona, about 60 percent of schools have athletic trainers. There is a 40-percent gap and that is a significant problem.”
Funding is the biggest challenge to hiring athletic trainers, who typically have a master’s degree and are paid a teacher’s salary, Cárdenas said. Officials aim to have one in every Arizona high school in the next 10 years.
“If they are willing to have an athletic program, they should be willing to have a trainer to keep kids safe,” Cárdenas said.
Ayala said he still suffers from headaches and sometimes has difficulty speaking. The concussion has also impacted him in the classroom, at times hindering his ability to read and do math. He's done playing football, but hopes to play baseball later this year.
It typically takes two to three weeks for someone to heal from a concussion and though Ayala’s symptoms are ongoing, Cárdenas said he expects him to make a full recovery.
Athletic trainers are also taking on an increased role in professional football. As part of the National Football League’s efforts to reduce concussions, Cárdenas said an independent athletic trainer will be in a booth during every game to serve as an injury spotter and monitor players for symptoms of head injuries.
“If the athlete has not been taken off to the sidelines, that spotter can call a medical time out,” said Cárdenas, a NFL medical consultant who is on the sideline for every Arizona Cardinals home game. “This is unprecedented, because never in sports has there been an ability of a medical provider to actually call a time out.”
Cardenas said the NFL’s recently released 2015 Health and Safety Report shows concussions are down 35 percent since 2012 and concussions resulting from helmet-to-helmet hits are down 43 percent.
