2012 was an amazing year for increasing concussion awareness nationwide. Over the past year, a vast amount of research has been published that has woken up America to the dangers of concussions. Concussions are in the news now more than ever, which has served to educate the public about the need to take proper precautions when dealing with head injuries.
In Florida, meanwhile, the effort to pass youth concussion legislation was successful after over a year of tireless work. 2013 and the years to come will be safer years for Florida youth athletes thanks to this law. In Miami-Dade County, the ImPACT testing program that Countywide Concussion Care enabled has been a tremendous success. High school athletes in public high schools have greatly benefitted from having a greater awareness of concussions and being under the care of proper medical professionals. The program has become firmly established in the Miami-Dade County public high school athletic system. It will continue to provide testing and a support system for Miami-Dade public school athletes into the future. Broward County also agreed to implement a countywide baseline testing program for its high school athletes.
As for me, I am ecstatic that I am able to write all that I have just written above. I know that I have come so far from when I was a high school freshmen, doing all that I could to get through each day with my third concussion. Never would I have thought that I would have spread concussion awareness the way that I have. However, I am not satisfied, for there is more to be done and more athletes, coaches, trainers, and parents that need concussion education. In 2013, I will continue to do what I can to teach people about the dangers of concussions and how to avoid them. I wish everyone a healthy, happy, and concussion-free new year. Please write and let me know about your experiences with concussions and any interest you may have in helping to spread the word about concussion awareness, prevention, testing or legislation.