Irvington School District Athletic Director, Artie McCormack and Dr. Mark Herceg, Irvington parent and Director of the Neuropsychology Brain Injury Unit at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, recently announced the creation of a comprehensive program for the District to manage student-athlete head injuries.“We introduced a multiple measure approach to collect a wider array of data on our students and are also assessing more students than in the past,”said Superintendent Dr. Kristopher Harrison, who served as a member of the concussion management team. “These efforts, along with our continued work with the school physician, will lead to a deeper pool of data to help assess head injuries and provide information on the treatment they may receive.”
All 250 high school student-athletes participating in fall teams have received IMPACT (a computerized neurocognitive exam), one of the most widely-used computerized concussion evaluation systems. In addition, approximately 140 student-athletes playing varsity and junior varsity high-contact sports including football, field hockey and girls and boys soccer were also tested with the King-Devick Concussion Screening Test and the Standardized Assessment of Concussion, which will also be used on the sidelines during events to allow for real time measurement of concussion injuries and to help determine if a student should be removed from competition.
“As a parent and physician I have seen an alarming trend of concussions in young people, and this was an issue we wanted to address within our community,” said Dr. Herceg. “The Irvington School District now has a dynamic approach to responding and treating student-athlete head injuries that incorporates neurocognitive testing, athletic training professionals, family and district doctors and Irvington families.”
