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New App Can Help Diagnose Concussions
There’s been plenty of coverage about the risk for concussions while playing football. The biggest issue is the cumulative nature of concussions. Georgia Health Sciences University Sports Head Trainer Time McLane described the problem as “they occur and add up over time if you don’t watch it.”
The moments immediately following a concussion are a critical period, and it is often hard for coaches or team health staff to remember exactly what questions to ask and tests to do. But now there’s an app to help them out.
McLane praises the app. “It takes away the subjectivity and makes everything objective.” The app tests the memory functions of possibly injured players before ordering a test of a player’s physical responses. It can then forward the results to an emergency room or doctor.
What makes this app so special is it keeps baseline records for players from before the first day of the season. It compares responses post-injury to these baseline stats.
Westminster Schools of Augusta Athletic Director Coach Andrew Bryan told Ashley Bridges, reporter for WJBF-TV from Georgia, ““The technology we have now can tell us because of the baseline whether we should objectively let him return, not based on the emotions of a coach or a player.”
The app is already being used by several schools, and is likely to get picked up by many more in the near future.
