On March 7, 2018 Royal Assent was granted to Bill 193 to enact Rowan’s Law in Ontario.
The Act imposes various requirements on sport organizations. This new legislation is intended to ensure better management of concussions in amateur sport and will establish mandatory requirements for:
- Annual review of concussion awareness resources that athletes, coaches, educators and parents would be required to review before registering in a sport;
- Removal-from-sport and return-to-sport protocols, to ensure that an athlete is immediately removed from sport if they are suspected of having sustained a concussion; and
- A concussion code of conduct that would set out rules of behaviour to minimize concussions while playing sport.
What Is A Concussion?
A concussion is a brain injury that cannot be seen on x-rays, CT scans, or MRIs. It affects the way your child may think and remember things, and can cause a variety of symptoms.
What Are The Symptoms & Signs Of A Concussion?
It is important to know that your child does not need to be knocked out (lose consciousness) to have had a concussion. A variety of problems may happen after a concussion, including:
- Thinking Problems
- Does not know time, date, place, period of game, score of opposing team, score of game
- general confusion
- cannot remember things that happened before and after the injury
- knocked out
Athlete’s Complaints
- headache
- dizziness
- feels dazed
- feels “dinged” or stunned; “having my bell rung”
- sees stars, flashing lights
- ringing in the ears
- sleepiness
- loss of vision
- sees double or blurry
- stomach ache / stomach pain, nausea
Other Problems
- poor coordination or balance
- blank stare / glassy eyed
- vomiting
- slurred speech
- slow to answer questions or follow directions
- easily distracted
- poor concentration
- strange or inappropriate emotions (i.e. laughing, crying. getting mad easily)
- not playing as well
What Causes A Concussion?
Any blow to the head, face or neck, or a blow to the body which causes a sudden jarring of the head may cause a concussion (i.e. a helmet to the head, being knocked to the ground).