New Richmond High School is turning to technology to closely monitor its athletes for concussions.
“It’s called Baseline Testing for Concussions,” explained NRHS athletic director Doug Foote, who is having athletes in all sports undergo online ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) testing prior to competing during the 2012-13 school year.
“Our trainer Megan Barhorst is running the program,” said Foote. “We are going to test all our athletes now and then we’ll do it every two years. We’ll do all the incoming freshmen and then do juniors after that. They have to come in and do a test on a computer and then if they get hit in the head in any way, form or fashion we will redo their test and see where they are at and we will have a baseline for that test.”
The non-invasive computerized test is set up in a video game format and takes about 15 to 20 minutes. It tracks information such as memory, reaction time, speed and concentration.
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Wellington trainer Megan Barhorst explains the ImPACT testing to senior football player Luke Hoskins while seniors (from left) Alex Horn and Clay Loadman complete their 20-minute test that will give the school a baseline for testing for possible concussions in the future.
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“However, it is not an IQ test,” said Barhorst, who is assigned to New Richmond High School by Wellington Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine and is in her fourth year at New Richmond.
Concussions have not been a major problem during Barhorst’s time at New Richmond but they remain an area of great concern for the school.
“We had four concussions all of last year,” said Barhorst. “That is not bad at all for us, but what we are trying to avoid are concussions slipping by and us not noticing them.”
“It’s a great program and a lot of schools are doing it,” said Foote. “Supt. (Adam) Bird and I have been talking about it for about a year and we decided to implement the program this year.”
“For first time, all NRHS athletes will get baseline concussion testing before the season starts,” said Bird. “Thanks to Doug Foote for making this happen.”
