Apr 7, 2019 4 min read

Head injuries in sports has been a hot-button issue in recent years. From the NFL to youth soccer leagues to weekend warriors, athletes who have suffered concussions and their wide-ranging symptoms have been talked about, analyzed and studied.

Words and terms like CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and concussion protocol have become common lingo in sports broadcasts and on the sports pages.

The NFL reported its players suffered more concussions in 2017 than in any other year. A five-year study by the NCAA revealed more than 10,000 of its athletes suffered concussions during that period.

Even locally, the numbers are alarming.

According to Pattiann Berton of IMPACTED Inc., one Washington County school district last year reported 70 concussions – 5 percent of its student body – and another reported 30. That two school districts would have a combined 100 reported concussions is, well, 100 too many, Berton said.

That’s where Berton and IMPACTED Inc., come in. Pattiann and her husband Tom, of South Strabane Township, started IMPACTED Inc., in the wake of their son, Patrick, suffering a concussion while playing in a youth football game. It left him wheelchair-bound. Meanwhile, the Bertons and IMPACTED have worked to educate parents and students about concussions and their symptoms.

These days, Pattiann speaks to school and league officials, athletes, parents and coaches about concussions.

“The reception we’ve received is a mixed bag, to be truthful,” Pattiann said. “Some have been very open to discussing and admitting there is an issue. Others …

“Our program is to educate parents, students, grandparents. What are the signs? Not knowing is far worse than knowing. We want parents to be able to reach out and talk to other parents.”

IMPACTED also wants to help schools by connecting them with safer, better equipment. It recently asked schools in Washington County to produce a public service video to raise awareness of brain injuries. The one produced by Washington School District was selected as the winner and the Prexies’ football program will receive 65 NFL Xenith helmets and Vane mouth guards for next season. The state-of-the-art helmets are valued at more than $400 apeice.

While most school districts cannot afford Xenith helmets, Berton said the Vane mouth guards with G-Force sensors could be a game changer for concussion awareness and player safety.

“It is dental grade. In the molar area, there are little sensors,” she explained. “When the body takes a hard hit, the teeth will clench. When there is about 100 Gs of force on the mouthpiece in the molar area – that’s when a concussion is typically detected – the senors will be activated and the mouthpiece will begin to glow red. When that happens, a referee, coach, trainer, sideline personnel, they can see it and know that the athlete needs to be put in medical protocol.”

Vane is not the only company that is developing and marketing such a high-tech mouthpiece, which is something that can benefit athletes and even game officials.

“When I was talking at Washington High School, a gentleman asked if he could see one of the mouth guards. He said these could really help officials, and he was sure about that because he is an official,” Pattiann recalled.

“He told me that to identify a player who might have suffered a concussion, all an official is told to do is look into the player’s eyes. Now, if they see the mouthpiece has turned red, then it takes the guesswork out of it for them.”

But getting an injured athlete into a standardized concussion protocol can be difficult. The process varies from school to school. One of IMPACTED’s goals is to make concussion protocol uniform throughout high schools.

“Each school district is different. One school might have a medical doctor, another might use a student trainer from a local college and another might use somebody from (a physical therapy service). I’d like to make all of them similar and have a standard protocol across the state.

“We’re going to reach for a star and take the moon. Our executive board wants a standard protocol across the board, with standard equipment for everyone, not just the school districts that can afford it. We need changes.”