NFL explains new protocol to check for concussions

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The NFL’s Head, Neck, and Spine Committee announced Friday its new standardized sideline concussion test will be go electronic next season so team doctors can get results even faster.

Last Fall, the league introduced its standardized concussion assessment tool; a mandated battery of tests to check things like balance, confusion, vision, memory – anything that might point to a brain injury

They compare the results to a baseline assessment done on the player during the preseason.  The score helps determine if he may have a concussion, what to do next, and whether he can go back on the field.

“It doesn’t substitute for the skill and experience of the athletic trainer or the physician trying to work with the player,” said Dr. Stanley Herring, a committee member and team doctor for the Seattle Seahawks. “But mandating this – putting on a protocol – making the data easily accessible and having us have access to more visual opportunity makes a good system better.”

There are also more eyes watching for possible head injuries.

Trainers keep an eye from the press box and if they see anyone who may have been hurt, they can call down to the sideline.

"So it helps the medical staff on the sideline know that there may be something – maybe a video to review – or that there's a concern they may want to evaluate the athlete,” said  Dr. Margot Putukian, a committee member.

"The best thing is there's more and more of a watchdog aspect in the NFL," said Sports Illustrated writer Peter King.  “I think what has happened over the last few years – it’s made the NFL more and more aware that many players will try whatever they can to get back in games. I mean I think it’s a really dangerous thing.”

King said some players will do whatever they can to get back in the game.

“You need to be able to have these sorts of objective tests so that players, no matter what they want to tell you, you’re really going to try to find out as much of the truth as you can,” he said. “They have to be protected from themselves and I think that’s what tests like this are going a long way toward doing.”