HEAD INJURY GUIDELINES

For teams without a doctor:
Incidents of a suspected SRC, or a witnessed suspicious mechanism that could lead to SRC, will be managed as follows:

• The primary medical carer enters the field of play (FoP) to perform an initial assessment. If indicated the FoP tournament medical team will also attend.
• The player will be taken to the Athlete medical room for review by the FoP tournament medical team.

If a player requires removal from play, this should be clearly communicated with the team primary carer on the team bench. Coaches should be aware that this may occur in the interests of player welfare.

Possible (likely) diagnosis of SRC:

• The player should be removed from the court.
• Assessment should take place in a quiet, distraction free environment.
• The player should be allowed to rest for a couple of minutes prior to assessment if feasible.
• Video review if available can be undertaken.
• The player should be fully assessed, using the SCAT5 and compared with baseline.
• In the case that a full assessment has taken place (history, full assessment +/- video review where available) and no diagnosis of SRC is made, the doctor can then decide to return the athlete to play.
• The SCAT5 is not in itself diagnostic, but a tool to assist with decision-
making. If there is any clinical suspicion by the assessing doctor, but the player has recorded a ‘normal’ SCAT5 a cautious approach is recommended. The diagnosis of SRC remains a clinical decision based on the serial assessment in a range of domains including symptoms, signs, cognitive impairment and neuro-behavioural changes.


C. Unclear but some concerns:
1. Assess at the next available opportunity.
2. Obtain a history of the incident from the player (symptoms, memory impairment).
3. Apply Maddock’s questionnaire: a full assessment is needed if the player cannot answer.
4. Continue to monitor throughout the game, and remove from play for further assessment if clinical concerns evolve regarding a possible SRC.


For teams without a doctor:
• The player will be taken to the Athlete medical room for a full assessment by the FoP tournament medical team – this will include a SCAT 5 assessment.
• If the player is deemed to have SRC then they will not be returned to the field of play and will need to follow the return to play protocol.
UMPIRE RULE

Dangerous play

  1. A player must not take any action, either unnecessarily forceful, careless, reckless or dangerous that could affect the safety of another player. This specifically includes (but is not limited to) any action that results in either HEAD and/or neck CONTACT or contact of the head and/or neck with any part of the playing enclosure including the goalpost.Game management action: Penalty pass where the infringement occurred and the player is either suspended or in a serious case ordered off. A player must always be ordered off for intentional or highly reckless acts of dangerous play.
    Terminology: Dangerous play.

  2. When umpires are considering whether a suspension or ordering off is more appropriate, they should consider the following factors (which are not exhaustive):
    • Was the action intentional, reckless or avoidable?
    • Did the action have a low or high impact on player safety?
    • Was the action at low or high speed, on the ground or in the air?
    • Was the action low or high force?
    • Did the action occur while stationary or moving?


​Pocket CONCUSSION RECOGNITION TOOL
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Sport Concussion Assessment Tool – 3rd edition
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​Sport Concussion Assessment Tool for children ages 5 to12 years