Northwest Iowa (Radio Iowa) — The state Departments of Public Health and Education have issued new expanded guidelines for dealing with students who may have concussions. The Iowa Legislature passed a law in 2011 that dictated how concussions should be handled for students participating in sports, dance, or cheerleading in seventh through 12th grades.
The Health Department’s Brain Injury Program coordinator, Maggie Ferguson, says the new expanded guidelines are trying to make sure all students get attention.
She says the new concussion guidelines cover students of any age.
Ferguson says they are using a model developed in Colorado called REAP.
She says using a community approach makes sure they see students in a wide view.
She says if they find issues, they will take action to first ensure the student can handle their academic work.
Ferguson says once diagnosed, dealing with a concussion is not a difficult process.
The new concussion guidelines go into place for this school year. The Iowa Departments of Education and Public Health strongly encourage the use of these concussion management guidelines — but they are voluntary and each individual school must make the decision to use them.
