What you see in the movies just may bring a spotlight on the issue of concussion prevention and diagnosis that Daniel Michael, M.D., PhD., has been treating, studying and teaching on for several years. As a co-author of an article published on October 2014 titled Concussion 101, in the Neurosurgery journal, Dr. Michael and his colleagues indicated that prevention, accurate diagnosis, and prompt management of concussions require that players, parents, coaches, and medical personnel to be accurately educated on current concussion data and guidelines.

By combining various program methods and offering a concussion education program in health classes for all students, as opposed to only athletes, leads to a more educated public and will result in responsible actions being taken when concussion is suspected.

The ThinkFirst program aims to help achieve this goal by providing classroom presentations. The ThinkFirst Foundation holds monthly online training for injury prevention coordinators interested in operating a ThinkFirst chapter within a hospital or other medical setting for providing ThinkFirst educational programs to schools and other community groups.

LEARNING ABOUT CONCUSSIONS FROM OTHER’S EXPERIENCES

Voices for Injury Prevention speakers are individuals who have experienced a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury themselves and share their personal story with students to help them realize the ramifications of such injuries and the importance of prevention. Student evaluations have shown that students are significantly more influenced to choose safe behaviors when they have heard from someone who has experienced a brain or spinal cord injury, as opposed to hearing the facts on injury or potential for being ticketed through law enforcement.

Data demonstrated that the program was efficacious in changing student attitudes about safety and that these attitudes persisted out to 3 months after the presentation.

Founded by neurosurgeons in 1986 with the support of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation website has studies on its programs and contact information for the 150 national chapters and 39 international chapters.

Source:
Neurosurgery:
October 2014 – Volume 75 – Issue – p S131–S135
doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000000482