PITTSBURGH — As student athletes return to action for fall sports, many are getting a lesson in the school of hard knocks.
Cameron Ekiert knows that first hand. He plays hockey for a travel team as well as his high school, Franklin Regional.
Two years ago, he took a hit that changed the way he plays the game.
“I was really tired. I wanted to go to sleep and I had to go the hospital, and on the way, the traffic lights seemed like search lights,” he said.
Ekiert had suffered a concussion.
That is why he was with dozens of other young athletes at the CCAC campus in Boyce taking part in a concussion awareness program organized by UPMC and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Athletes ages 10 and up are taking baseline neuro-cognitive tests to measure memory, reaction time and visual motor skills.
“In order for us to manage the injury appropriately, is if we have that baseline,” explained Patrick Huber of UPMC’s Concussion Outreach Program. “We can then use it as a comparison tool. When they actually do have an injury we can have them come back and test.”
Every year hospitals treat more than 173,000 sports related brain injuries in children, but most never even get medical attention.
The Heads Up program is now in its third year and has expanded to include all sports.
The students are also getting a free neck strengthening kit which includes a video that demonstrates specific exercises.
“Research has found that for every pound of neck strength increase you have, there's about a 5 percent reduction in concussion risks,” said Huber.
More than 17,000 people, including athletes, parents, coaches and referees, have gone through the Heads Up program, showing them exactly how to recognize the earliest signs of a concussion.
The program has seen 9,000 athletes come through for baseline testing in three years.
For more information on UPMC's sports concussion program, visit UPMC's sports medicine page.