GAA reject introduction of sideline concussion tests

American football, rugby, Gaelic football... nobody has it figured out.

However the issue of concussion is one that is finally being discussed rationally after years of miscommunication and poor information. Rugby has taken the lead in removing players from action if suspected of a serious blow to the head, and now the GAA are confirming their own guidelines, which are just as strict as those of their oval ball counterparts. The medical, scientific and welfare committee of the GAA has recommended, after consultation with various medical professionals, to reject a proposal to take a player out of action if suspected of suffering a head injury. The proposal that came before the MSW earlier this year after the 2015 Congress was quite clear.

"The introduction of a temporary substitute to allow a player suspected of concussion to be removed from play on the instruction of the referee, tested for concussion and only allowed to return to play following a negative result to the test."

There has been a number of high profile incidents of players suffering with concussion over the last 12 months, with Cork camogie captain Ashling Thompson admitting in her All-Ireland acceptance speech that she was in fact concussed. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/643099976596357120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Aidan O'Shea and Cillian O'Connor were also involved in a high profile clash of heads in the 2014 All-Ireland semi final replay, while there has been dozens more serious incidents in the GAA from recent memory. However that proposal has been rejected by the MSW, as they feel that such a practice would be impossible to implement.

"Concussion is a brain injury and concussion diagnosis is a clinical judgement. The introduction of a concussion sub should be both in keeping with medical best practice and would also need to be practical to implement at all levels of the association. There is no test currently available which is 100% accurate for pitch side concussion assessment."

Today's report also goes on to state that it should not be left to referees to determine whether or not a player should be allowed to continue. Ger Ryan and Ger McDaid, the Chairman and Secretary of the MSW, state in today's findings that any diagnosis of concussion can only be made by a medically-trained professional and that symptoms are no always obvious,

"Any requirement for the referee to be involved in a decision to have a player removed from play would place undue demands on the referee and create risks of him being held accountable for failing to identify circumstances in which a player should have been removed from play. Referees are not medical professionals and concussion diagnosis is a clinical judgement."

The report instead has three recommendations for the ongoing care and maintenance of players who suffer a possible concussion during a game:

• CLG should not introduce a concussion sub.

• The current concussion guidelines continue to apply with ongoing monitoring and review by the MSW Committee.

• The focus of CLG with regard to Concussion should be the continued education of all members of the association

The GAA's current concussion guidelines state that:

"Any player suspected of having sustained a concussion, should be removed immediately from the field and should not return to play on the same day. "Where a Team Doctor is present, he should advise the person in charge of the team (i.e. Team Manager) in this regard and the player must not be allowed to continue his participation in the game. "Concussion is an evolving injury. It is important to monitor the player after the injury for progressive deterioration."

The guidelines can effectively be summed up the principal “if in doubt, sit them out”. The full MSW report on concussion can be found here