Rowan’s Rugby Fatality Prompts Canada’s First Concussion Legislation

Tator, Charles H.; Starkes, Jill; Dolansky, Gillian; Quet, Julie; Michaud, Jean; Vassilyadi, Michael

doi:10.1017/cjn.2019.15

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In fact, certain jurisdictions such as Ontario, Canada, have laws that mandate concussion protocols within NSOs. 17,18 When Climbing Escalade Canada, a new NSO, was required to develop a concussion protocol, it sought clinician input. 17 Because of the limited HI literature in climbing, clinicians are challenged when developing concussion protocols, or caring for climbers with HIs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Head Injuries in Rock Climbing: A Scoping Review

Yoon

Armstrong

Philippopoulos

et al. 2022

Wilderness & Environmental Medicine

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Rock climbing was recognized as a sport at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Despite its increasing participation, there is no knowledge synthesis of head injuries (HIs), defined as any injury to the head, associated with climbing, making it challenging for clinicians to provide evidence-based care. Our aim was to synthesize HI literature within rock climbing and identify knowledge gaps. Six databases (Medline, Embase, Sports Medicine & Education Index, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and Cochrane) were searched. Two reviewers screened 345 studies and 31 studies were selected for data abstraction. We found the quality of individual studies mainly "fair" to "good." Both HI and traumatic brain injury (TBI) had inconsistent definitions and categorization. The HIs represented between 0 to 36% of reported climbing injuries. Between 11 to 100% of HIs were TBIs, defined as an HI with permanent or temporary neurological sequelae. The most common causes of HIs were outdoor falls and falling objects. Climbing-specific factors associated with the causes were infrequently examined in the literature. Data sources of safety practices were incomplete. Overall, there was a lack of literature examining HIs, mechanisms of injury, and safety practices associated with climbing. To improve the tracking of HIs in climbing, we suggest the use of consistent reporting standards and the creation of a climbing injury surveillance system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Head Injuries in Rock Climbing: A Scoping Review

Yoon

Armstrong

Philippopoulos

et al. 2022

Wilderness & Environmental Medicine

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“…The importance of longitudinal studies of concussion and PCS is that such studies help to detect and treat the early and long-term consequences of concussion including mental health issues of anxiety, depression and PTSD, cognitive decline, and catastrophic conditions such as the second impact syndrome which lead to Rowan's Concussion Law. 29,30 Indeed, one of the first documented cases of this syndrome was in a 16-year-old Canadian ice hockey player who died in 1968 after a bodycheck and a witness at the inquest reported seeing "the deceased fall and hit the back of his head on the ice four days before the fatal accident" with brief loss of consciousness. 31 Another important reason for long-term studies of concussion with PCS is the development in athletes of CTE, the rare neurodegenerative disorder that can develop after a long interval of several years after concussions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persisting Concussion Symptoms from Bodychecking: Unrecognized Toll in Boys’ Ice Hockey

Tator

Blanchet

2022

Can. J. Neurol. Sci.

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Objectives: Youth hockey is a high-impact sport and can cause concussions with lasting effects. We hypothesized that important injury prevention information would accrue from longitudinal tracking of concussed players with persisting concussion symptoms (PCS). Methods: This case series comprised 87 consecutive concussed ice hockey players aged 10–18 including 66 males and 21 females referred to our Concussion Clinic from 1997 to 2017 and followed longitudinally by clinic visits and questionnaires. Results: PCS occurred in 70 (80.4%) of 87 concussed players and lasted 1–168 months in males and 3–26 months in females. Bodychecking was the most common concussion mechanism in 34 (39.1%) players and caused PCS in 24 (70.6%) with symptom duration 4.00 [2.75, 14.50] months (median [IQR]). The remaining 53 players had other concussion mechanisms with PCS in 86.8% (p = 0.113) with similar duration (p = 0.848). Conclusions: This is the first longitudinal study of concussion with PCS in youth hockey and showed that symptoms can last for several years. Bodychecking was the commonest mechanism of prolonged disability from concussion in boys and girls’ hockey with average PCS duration of 12.3 months but several years in some players. The injury prevention message is to raise the age of permitted bodychecking to 18 in boys’ hockey from age 13 to 14 where it is currently. In this case series, this change could have prevented the majority of the bodycheck concussions and several years of suffering from PCS and is strong evidence for raising the permitted age for bodychecking in boys’ ice hockey to age 18.

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“…Tomei et al report that the individuals allowed to clear student-athletes for return to play varies considerably across the states 5. Of note, ‘Rowan’s Law’ was passed in the Ontario Legislature in March 2018 to address concussion awareness, including for student-athletes and those responsible for them following the tragic death of student-athlete Rowan Stringer, after multiple unmanaged concussions 20 21. Rowan’s Law expanded the initial Ontario concussion public policy, Policy/Program Memorandum 158, to include a code of conduct, specific education in school curricula and a broader range of target ages 2 21.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a concussion public policy on prevention, management and education for schools using expert consensus

et al. 2022

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ObjectivesConcussions are a major public health concern, and, thus, specific policies have been developed for implementation targeting vulnerable populations such as school-aged children and youth in the school setting, in whom the majority of concussions are sports related. Currently, concussion policies exist in various jurisdictions, including Canada’s first concussion policy for schools, Ontario’s PPM158, initiated in 2014. However, these policies are often variable in terms of content and comprehensiveness. Our objective was to develop a consensus for the content of concussion policy for schools.MethodsFollowing a pilot study in one Ontario school board in 2015, which identified missing elements in existing concussion policy, we employed a modified Delphi method to develop consensus for the content of concussion public policy for schools. We used an integrated knowledge translation approach with participation from a multidisciplinary stakeholder group of 20 experts including principals, school board directors, physicians, policymakers, public health representatives and parents.ResultsBased on the experts, we created a list of 30 policy recommendations for concussion policy in the school setting. This comprehensive list reflects the diverse perspectives of the experts and addresses the role of parents, teachers, coaches, school administrators, referees, trainers, physicians/nurse practitioners, public health and students.ConclusionsThis is the first expert consensus for content of concussion public policy for schools and can be used for policy development or enhancement in schools in other jurisdictions. We provide a comprehensive list of 30 recommendations to guide best practices for policy development and implementation to enhance school-based concussion prevention and management.

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Rowan’s Rugby Fatality Prompts Canada’s First Concussion Legislation

Cited by 12 publications

References 3 publications

Head Injuries in Rock Climbing: A Scoping Review

Head Injuries in Rock Climbing: A Scoping Review

Persisting Concussion Symptoms from Bodychecking: Unrecognized Toll in Boys’ Ice Hockey

Development of a concussion public policy on prevention, management and education for schools using expert consensus

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