By Michelle Costa, Local News 8 Reporter
POCATELLO - Fall and football seem to work in perfect harmony, but with the number of sports-related concussions on the rise, local experts are finding that harmony is being cut short.
That's why an ISU Sport Science and PE Professor is encouraging people to use a new test to find out if an athlete has a concussion.
"Here's an old-fashioned helmet. You can see the difference here," said Dr. Caroline Faure, Sport Science and PE, ISU.
That difference athletic trainer, Dr. Caroline Faure, is describing is jaw protection and more padding on helmets, all a way to help prevent injuries.
The other way: a neurocognitive test involving short-term memory. It's given before the season starts as a baseline and then after a suspected concussion to compare.
"We don't want to admit that it can happen here. We just cross our fingers and hope that it won't, but then when things happen and it does hit close to home then things happen and it wakes you up," said Dr. Faure.
Talk about a wake up call, last year, nationwide, there were 8 concussion-related high school deaths.
It's that population and younger experts are worried about.
It's not only important for trainers and coaches to know what concussions are all about, players and parents also have to know so they don't drop the ball.
"Getting the message to parents is a struggle because so many people have the belief from 20 years ago that ... oh. you got your bell rung and they kind of laugh it off, which we know today is a very serious sign of a concussion and that we have to hold them out until the brain is healed up and ready to play," said Brent Faure, Athletic Trainer, Century High School.
For trainers, using the memory tests will make it easier to know if a player is ready to go back on the field.
But, there's a thin line between making sure an athlete is one hundred percent and winning a game.
Dr. Faure would like to see Idaho step up to the plate by mandating appropriate medical care for kids with concussions.
She believes this would prevent further deaths from occurring.
