Movers and Shakers: IMG Academy, Coastal Orthopedics & Sports Medicine to Work on School-Wide Concussion Protocol

BRADENTON – IMG Academy and Dr. Jeremy Ng of Bradenton's Coastal Orthopedics & Sports Medicine will be working together to provide a school-wide concussion protocol for athletes of the sports academy.

The protocol details how to handle a student-athlete with a concussion from the moment of injury. It details when to follow-up with a physician and mandates a concussion specific physical exam and neurocognitive (baseline and post-injury) testing using the state-of-the-art ImPACT computerized evaluation system. Most importantly, these protocols give newly formed guidelines about when the student can return to school, how to establish an academic plan to make up work,and what (if any) temporary academic accommodations will be recommended. 

"The protocols streamline the return-to-school and return-to play-process, creates a great channel of communication between student, parent, physician, nursing staff, athletic trainers, teachers, school administrators and coaches, which allows one plan to be enforced by all those who are involved in the student's life," says Dr. Ng.

Coastal Orthopedics' physician and concussion specialist, Dr. Ng, will be performing the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) for IMG athletes.

ImPACT testing provides computerized neurocognitive assessment tools and services that are used by medical doctors, psychologists, athletic trainers, and other licensed healthcare professionals to assist in determining an athlete's ability to return to play after suffering a concussion. It tests four areas of neurological performance: verbal memory, visual memory, reaction time, and visual-motor performance. Dr. Ng is the only Credentialed ImPACT Consultant (CIC) in Manatee County.

"The implementation of such protocols for students has shown to decrease the total number of days absent, changes in academic performance, total time to symptom resolution, and total time before returning to sports after an injury," says Dr. Ng. 

Dr. Ng has recently assisted in creating a protocol for the athletics department of Saint Stephen's Episcopal School in Bradenton and is currently assisting in creating one for Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Ng has also assisted as physician and coach for athletes of the NFL Combine and as physician for the US Soccer Under-17 team and the Kenyan Olympic relay team, all at the IMG Academy. 

Dr. Ng has also spoken at numerous concussion management conferences, along with the National Strength and Conditioning Conference meeting in Las Vegas, and co-authored a chapter for "Pediatric Sports Medicine – Essentials for Office Evaluation" to be published in the Fall of 2013. Dr. Ng has also worked with the Agility teaching concussion management to Certified Athletic Trainers. Agility ATC's will soon be utilizing Dr. Ng's documentation, sideline assessments and protocols.

About Coastal Orthopedics & Sports Medicine | Pain Management

Coastal Orthopedics has been serving the Sarasota-Bradenton area for over thirty years. In addition to three offices and two surgery centers each servicing Florida's West Coast, Coastal Orthopedics' staff of 18 board-certified and fellowship-trained physicians and surgeons provide patients with the very latest in pain and orthopedic treatment technology. The company strives to repair and heal injuries relating to the entire musculoskeletal system. With a world-renowned staff of physicians and surgeons ranging in specialty care in sports medicine, joint replacement, pain management and rehabilitation, patients can be treated for athletic injuries as well as restoration of function and activity through non-surgical, physician-guided strengthening, therapy, medications, injections, and stretching. For more information visit www.CoastalOrthopedics.com.