Concussions have never been more prominent in professional sports. Across the NBA, NFL, NHL and most professional leagues, concussion protocol is a standard for its athletes.
Thanks to a recent partnership between the University of Kentucky (UK) and the Jockeys’ Guild, concussion protocol development will be in full effect for horse jockeys. Yesterday’s partnership announced a “three-year pilot study supported by a broad cross sectional of thoroughbred organizations, designed to evolve into the fire comprehensive concussion management protocol for jockeys,” according to TheHorse.com.
The director of the Graduate Athletic Training Program and a professor in the UK College of Health and Sciences, Carl Mattacola, PhD, ATC, FNATA, will oversee the study of all five of Kentucky’s Thoroughbred racetracks. The group plans to begin in the summer, and work to develop and test the protocol as quickly as possible.
The jockeys will undergo a sport concussion assessment tool (SCAT 3) to develop a baseline test score. If the jockeys experience a fall, their pre- and post-test responses will be compared and evaluated by a specialized concussion health care expert.
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“We want to give the jockeys who suffer head injuries the best science has to offer, and an important first step towards that goal is to generate data from which an appropriate management protocol can be developed,” said Mattacola. “This project will leverage the full resources and knowledge base of UK’s Sports Medicine Research Institute and the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center to help create the first national protocol for concussion management in jockeys.”
This concussion assessment tool is much like the advanced sports concussion platform, XLNTbrain Sport that was brought to the high school sporting scene by the Spotsylvania County school system in Virginia. The system can be operated online, as well as through mobile devices acting as a pre- and post-test concussion recognizer.
Concussion protocol is stepping up across the sporting world as a whole at all levels.
The NFL adopted a new rule last off-season which allows certified athletic trainers the ability to contact the side judge from the booth and stop the play in order to help a concussed player receive medical treatment. The medical trainer is the “watch dog,” of the game and speaks directly with official-to-official communication in order to stop play.
We should consider these watch dogs, “An athlete’s best friend.”
As other sports developed their concussion protocols, horse racing got into the mix and acted fast. “The pilot study and resulting concussion management protocol will finally bridge the gap that exists between horse racing and other major sports to further protect our human athletes,” said Terry Meyocks, national manager of the Jockeys’ Guild. “We would like to thank all of the industry organizations that contributed to this important initiative.”
All jockeys will have a profile on tap which will store their medical information and serve as the database for the study operating through the Jockey Health Information System. As the world of sport develops, horse racing is working towards following the trend of protecting and realizing concussion protocol for its jockeys and their safety.
Perhaps, we should test the horses next? Although animals are not considered the “athletes,” if a horse would take a tumble down the track it would be wise to evaluate its health. I am not sure the SCAT3 has this capability, but it is a thought to certainly consider.
Until then, the race between concussions and jockeys is a tight one and at the photo finish, horse racing’s concussion prevention is in the lead.