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20 | Touchline issue 23 | April 2016
THOUSANDS VIEW WORLD RUGBY’S ONLINE CONCUSSION EDUCATION
Over 17,000 people viewed online concussion education
organised by World Rugby in 2015, the governing body says.
The “Recognise and Remove” scheme was accessed by elite
team medical staff, non-rugby doctors and other members of
the public. The online education is available in 11 languages and
includes practical scenarios and videos.
All players, coaches and medics participating at Rugby World
Cup 2015 in England undertook mandatory concussion
education, while, in a first for a major sporting event, all team
and independent doctors had to undertake a dedicated course
in concussion management.
It followed increased concerns about head injuries in rugby, with
the sport’s sevens variant making its Olympic debut in Rio de
Janeiro this year.
Each successful completion results in a certificate, with World
Rugby’s independent concussion experts involved in putting the
material together.
World Rugby Chairman, Bernard Lapasset, said: “Concussion
education, prevention, management and research sits at the
heart of World Rugby’s player welfare strategies aimed at
protecting players at all levels of the sport.
CRICKETERS WILL BE QUIZZED TO SEE IF THEY ARE CONCUSSED
Players suspected of sustaining concussion will be asked a
series of questions including the name of the venue, which team
is bowling and the session of the day being played to help gauge
the seriousness of their condition.
The questions are revealed in a 27-page report setting out
how to deal with concussion and head injuries that has been
agreed between the Professional Cricketers’ Association and the
England and Wales Cricket Board.
The report follows a consultation process between the ECB
medical panel, first-class counties and the neurosurgical and
neurosciences concussion research team from the National
Institute for Health Research in Birmingham.
The report borrows from work already done in rugby and other
contact sports but has been adapted especially for cricket.
The questions are cricket’s version of ‘Maddocks Questions’, a
qualitative test to measure brain function.
If concussion is confirmed players will now be immediately
withdrawn from the remainder of the match, irrespective of
whether it is a Twenty20 or a five-day Test. They will also face
a minimum of six days out of action before undertaking a
“graduated return to play”.
The report states that head injuries are rare in cricket with
only 37 in the last five years in England, of which 14 involved
concussion, and as a whole cricketers are 100 times less likely to
suffer such a problem when compared to rugby players.
“The main reason that the rate appears so low is likely to
be related to use of helmets but may also be related to
underreporting,” the report says. “This is being further evaluated
through injury surveillance, a research pilot and also a retired
cricketers survey.