Similar numbers are anticipated for the upcoming year.
The Vikes conducted a type of baseline test called SCAT 5 for 250 varsity athletes in contact and collision sports last year. The athletic therapist also uses this meeting to educate them on how to identify a head injury. “When I arrived on campus, I didn’t feel like I was walking into a place where head injuries were brushed off.”Įach varsity athlete in a contact sport is required to book an appointment for baseline testing-a preliminary, preemptive analysis of their abilities that can later provide an important comparison when evaluating concussion-like symptoms-prior to each season. Procedures from the previous year will be reviewed and changed as needed to fit current guidelines, while student therapists are being trained on the updated protocol. Over the past few weeks, the Vikes sports injury clinic has been gearing up in anticipation of the the season ahead. “When I arrived on campus, I didn’t feel like I was walking into a place where head injuries were brushed off.”
“Each concussion is so different,” says Traci Vander Byl, who has helped to oversee the personalized management of concussions on campus as head athletic therapist at at the Vikes sports injury clinic for over 10 years. The results of this work could have a massive national impact, as the Northern Brain Injury Association of British Columbia reports that 452 people in Canada suffer a serious brain injury every day, which is a rate of one every three minutes.
Information and best practices on treating concussions are constantly evolving as experts study the impact of traumatic brain injuries, and some of that research is being done in labs and clinics right here at UVic.
Rats with tiny helmets and 3-D video games-welcome to the front lines of concussion research and management. How the changing landscape of concussion research has taken shape across campus Graphic by Austin Willis, Design Director
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