Sue Dubois

The CPD’s Sue Dubois, who also serves as Utah’s State Traumatic Brain Injury Coordinator, is one of many Utah TBI advocates who is closely watching the progress of HB0204, Protection of Athletes with Head Injuries.

Last week Dubois teamed up with Nita Smith of Utah’s nonprofit Phoenix Services in a recent radio interview at Logan’s KVNU station. They agreed the bill is acheiving good results, even though it has only begun a journey that may or may not make it a law. (Currently it’s circled–or being held without giving up its place on the legislative calendar–while awaiting a vote in the house. Those watching the bill agree its chances of being passed are good.)

On the way it’s sparking conversation and raising awareness among young athletes and their parents.

On Thursday, a column from local opinion writer Kathy Archer started with this headline: Sports head-injuries bill a no-brainer for Legislature.  ”H.B. 204 is really just about protecting our young people–the leaders of tomorrow–from the perhaps well-intended but uninformed tendency to try to win the game at what might be too great a cost,” she wrote.

The sports head injury bill is sponsored by Paul Ray of Clearfield. It would require that children who receive a suspected head injury be removed from play, and their parents would have to be informed of the injury. They would need medical clearance to return to the field.

The bill underscores a need both Dubois and Smith have observed: parents need to be brought into the conversation, not only so they can know about the sports injury but also so that they can contribute to the discussion. For example, a parent will know about past skateboarding or cycling head injuries their child has sustained. As understanding of  TBI grows, it is becoming clear that previous brain injuries can affect later ones. The brain needs time to heal before it is subjected to more jolts.

“They [parents] know the history,” Dubois said. “That’s one of the things that’s lacking, is good recording of head injuries.”

Meanwhile, the Utah High School Activities Association has included suggested guidelines for concussion management in its rule books. The CDC also has also published guidelines on its website.

Note: Our thanks to Kathy Archer for her help with this post.

The proposed developmental playground is the first of its kind for children ages 0 to 5.

Check out the latest CPD NewsFlash newsletter, featuring a  a proposed developmental playground for children with developmental delays.

The newsletter also tells the story of a dedicated team of people working to raise awareness about traumatic brain injury. Finally, the links to the right document the recognition CPD programs and people have received in other media.