CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The concussion Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained against the Buffalo Bills Thursday night has renewed the conversation of keeping student athletes safe from head injuries.
The head injury can happen in any sport.
"It's definitely been on the front burner really for quite a few years here in North Carolina," Janna Fonseca, the Director of Health Safety and Wellness For The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, explained.
Part of the athletic association's duty is to keep the conversation and awareness at the forefront, according to Fonseca.
"It's just that constant re-education and awareness," she said. "Collectively it's all our responsibility to have our eyes on these young people."
NCHSAA is following the Gfeller-Waller Concussion Awareness Act, according to Fonseca. This procedure teacher immediate action the moment a concussion occurs on the field.
“I tell my athletes we're on your side. We wanna get you back to sport safely. But the worst thing we could do is send you back to sport early," Eric Warren, a doctor with Atrium Health who serves as the medical director of the Atrium Health Sports Medicine Network, said.
Warren believes concussion education is making sports safer for athletes.
"We want their symptoms to go away at rest," Eric Warren, a doctor with Atrium Health who serves as the medical director of the Atrium Health Sports Medicine Network, said explaining the path to a full recovery."We want their symptoms to go away when they mentally exert themselves at school or work or wherever it may be. We want them to be symptom free when they exercise and we slow progressive return to play for exercise. We also want to see a normal physical exam and we want them to look normal to the people around them.”
Fonseca echoed that strategy.
"It just takes innovative and creative ways to continue to get that information in front of the right people and make sure that they really understand the importance of recognizing those signs and symptoms early," Fonseca said. "And not going back to play until they've been cleared by that licensed health care provider."
Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.