JOIN THE REGISTRY
WASHINGTON, DC – This afternoon, a youth concussion-focused town hall took place at Children’s National Medical Center. The event was a part of the Sarah Jane Brain Project’s 40+ state national brain injury tour.
Dr. Gerard Gioia, Director, Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program at Children’s National Medical Center, moderated the panel and spoke about the importance of proper concussion diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Shireen Atabaki, Division of Emergency Medicine at Children’s National Medical Center, said that through her research she found that the “concussion discharge instructions were inconsistent and inadequate for children and parents” and that work is being done to improve this.
Jon Almquist, ATC, VATL spoke about the importance “newer imaging techniques that could look at the connections between brain cells.”
Also on the panel were Gabrielle and Dawn Smith. Gabrielle, a 17 year old high school student, sustained a concussion while playing basketball. She said that “my concussion happened in December and the today was the first day I went to a full day of classes,” which means that she is still recovering months later.
Dawn Smith, Gabrielle’s mother, said that “if you don’t have someone telling you what to expect, it is terrifying, I feel like if we had been educated as a parent and athlete it wouldn’t have been as terrifying.”