Schools keep eyes open for concussions

Though she closely watches every minute of Skyline High School's football games from the sidelines, Lian Yuen may seldom know the score — or sometimes even who won the game.

But she could tell you the exact time a linebacker suffered a head-to-head collision on a play, or the very moment a defensive tackle gave another player whiplash.

Yuen is not just another spectator, but rather the person tasked with monitoring players for concussions and other injuries.

"My job is to keep these kids safe," said Yuen, the sole Certified Athletic Trainer at Skyline High, in the Issaquah School District. Yuen will be evaluating all the players before they take to the field this upcoming season.

"These injuries are serious," she said. "We've all heard of cases that didn't end well."

With practices for football, soccer and other fall sports already under way or starting this week at many local schools, those concerned about injuries are trying to raise awareness about prevention — especially when it comes to concussions. For young athletes in particular, a concussion followed by another blow can cause what's called second-impact syndrome, which can result in serious disability or even death.

Concussions are among the most commonly reported injuries in children and teens who play sports, with up to 3.8 million sports-related concussions reported each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Under the state's Zachary Lystedt Law — the first and among the toughest so-called return-to-play laws in the country — any athlete under the age of 18 showing any signs of a concussion must be removed from the field. Those signs include confusion, dizziness or complaining of memory loss, headache or nausea.

Named after a Maple Valley teenager who suffered a traumatic brain injury during a football game, the law also requires that any player who gets benched with a possible concussion receive written approval from a licensed professional before returning to play.

While getting benched may upset the player — not to mention teammates and fans — players "come around because they realize it's for their safety," said Juan Cotto, head football coach at Highline High School in Burien. "It's a full contact sport and that's what attracts people to the game."

"There are many things you cannot prevent, but concussions are not one of them," said Stanley Herring, team physician for the Seahawks and the Mariners and one of the doctors who treated Lystedt after his injury. An expert in traumatic brain injuries, Herring is a staunch advocate of the Lystedt law.

Since its passage in 2009, versions of the Lystedt law have been adopted by 28 states and the District of Columbia, the latest of them being Illinois, which passed a measure earlier this month.

Cotto, Herring and others have reason to be concerned — and not just about high-school players. Approximately 3.5 million U.S. children ages 6 to 14 play tackle football, even though it is described as "the most hazardous organized sport in the U.S.," according to a 2009 article in the journal, Pediatric Radiology. The problem isn't exclusive to football but includes sports such as soccer, bicycling, basketball and cheerleading.

"These are things we can never educate people enough about," Yuen said.

Recent decades have seen a jump in concussion-related emergency-room visits among both age groups. For children 13 and under, close to 8,000 concussion cases were reported in 2007, compared with about just under 4,000 cases a decade earlier. Among teens 14 to 18, more than 23,000 emergency-room visits for concussions were reported in 2007, compared with more than 7,000 in 1997, according to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Herring and other medical professionals are quick to point out that this may be a result of increased awareness and reporting among athletes, parents and coaches, rather than just an increase in the number of kids suffering concussions.

In 2006, Lystedt, an eighth-grader, suffered a hard blow to the head during a football game and was benched for about 15 minutes before returning to the field, where he took another hit in the fourth quarter. He collapsed shortly afterward and spent the next 30 days in a coma, diagnosed with a second-impact concussion, which caused his brain to swell uncontrollably.

Today, Lystedt, now 18 and in a wheelchair, is slowly regaining the ability to walk on his own, and working toward improving mobility to the right side of his body. His speech is slow and slightly slurred and he struggles with his short-term memory.

"We can never completely eliminate the risk in these sports, but no game is worth losing a life over," said Rep. Jay Rodne, R-North Bend, the bill's prime sponsor, whose district is where Lysedt and his family still reside. Rodne's own son suffered a concussion during a middle-school wrestling practice and had to sit it out for a week.

"He wasn't too happy," Rodne said. "But it's that second hit that can really have an impact."

Roberto Daza: 206-464-3195 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it