Carroll County Student Athletes to take Concussion Tests

In addition to getting a physical, Carroll County students will now have to get a baseline concussion test before they can participate on sports teams.

“There has been a lot of national press—the NHL, NFL, even major league baseball, and then also at the college level--the issue of head injuries has really come to the forefront,” said Jim Rodriguez, director of athletics for Carroll County Public Schools. “As a result, folks are realizing how dangerous concussions are, and in particular, how bad the long-term effects can be.”

Gov. Martin O'Malley recently signed House Bill 858, which requires the state Board of Education, and subsequently local boards of education, to educate athletes and their guardians about the dangers of head injuries and concussions. The bill requires local boards of education to get signatures from athletes and guardians prior to playing on a school sports team.

“We are doing our best to keep kids safe,” Rodriguez said. “We see that in the passing of this bill and the amount of research that is being done on concussions." 

Rodriguez said Carroll County is following Howard County’s lead in going a step beyond what the law requires. Students playing most sports will be required to take a non-invasive test in order to have a baseline for comparison purposes should the student receive a head injury during the season.

“We’ve worked very closely with the Howard County Public School system," Rodriguez said. "They’ve been doing baseline testing for four to five years now. We want to try to stay ahead of the curve with things that I believe are going to help our athletes in Carroll County be as safe as possible.”

The county has purchased rights to a website through which the testing will be done. According to the testing website impacttest.com, the test has three parts. The first part gathers demographic and health history information, the second part gathers information on the athlete’s current state of health, and the third part is a neuropsychological test that gauges memory, matching and mind speed, among other things.

According to the website, the test takes 20 minutes and it must be administered by someone who is trained to give the test such as a school nurse, athletic trainer or coach. Rodriguez said there is no cost to the student to take the test and the test is good for two years. The policy will take effect in the fall. 

The school system will pay approximately $750 per high school for up to 600 students to get baseline tested.

“For what it’s going to do for us in terms of drawing conclusions about whether a student is ready to return to play, then by all means, it’s worth every penny of it,” Rodriguez said. 

More information can be found on the Carroll County Public Schools website.