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Concussion Conference To Bring Awareness To Santa Clarita Parents

Santa Clarita residents, teachers, parents, concerned citizens and athletes are all encouraged to attend a free Jan. 24 Concussion Conference at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.


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The conference will be from 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Henry Mayo Center on the campus of the hospital on Mcbean Parkway, officials said Wednesday.

“The hope is to give our community and pediatricians the support they need in dealing with concussions,” said Joe Monteleone, a teacher who runs the sports medicine program at Valencia.

Concussions are a hot topic in the medical field, and a new team of specialists at Henry Mayo, and this concussion conference, hope to help Santa Clarita residents better understand concussions, hospital officials said.

“The main objectives of the Concussion Conference are to educate the Santa Clarita Valley community on the dangers of traumatic brain injury,” according to a media statement, “and to explore the appropriate protocols for concussion diagnosis and treatment.”

The speakers at the conference hope to target coaches and athletic trainers, according to Monteleone.

“There are doctors on the sidelines at games,” Monteleone said. “But players try to hide their concussions.”

The conference will give coaches, parents, and teachers some clues on how to tell if the athlete has had a concussion, according to Monteleone.

There are signs that the athlete has had a concussion, according to Monteleone. They will keep their head down, stay quiet and light and sounds will bother them.

The team of experts talked about why players will still get concussions, even if they are wearing a helmet.

“Helmets protect you from certain trauma,” said Glen Dabatos, the director of rehabilitation services at Henry Mayo. “But not from the brain sloshing around from the impact.” 

You don’t need to be an athlete to get a concussion, it doesn’t have to be a severe injury to be an issue, according to Thomas Kurian, who is board certified in Neurology. Anyone can trip and hit their head on the ground.

Not only football players run the risk of getting a concussion during a game, said Kurian.

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“Girls are actually more likely than boys to have a concussion,” Kurian said. “They generally have longer necks, giving their head the ability to travel and spin more.”

“I’ve already had two cheerleaders this year get concussions,” Monteleone said.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital is taking the lead on initiating the dialog regarding the appropriate protocols for concussion diagnosis and treatment, according to a news release.

It’s important to find out the history of these athletes concussions, and to document how many they have had, said Kurian.

“Each concussion makes it easier for you to have another concussion,” Kurian said.

The concussion conference hopes to reach school officials, but also insurance providers, according to Dabatos.

“We want to know who to refer our students to because of their insurance carrier,” Monteleone said.

There is no one standard way to diagnose and treat a concussion, and there is no piece of equipment that can diagnose a concussion, according to Kurian. But the team hopes to give parents and coaches some strategies to better understand, diagnose and treat them.

“This field is still evolving, and this is the first step in our mission to educate people on concussions,” said Patrick Moody, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Henry Mayo.

The conference agenda is:

7:45 a.m. – Registration and continental breakfast

8:30 a.m. – Welcome and introductions

Roger Seaver, Henry Mayo President and CEO

8:45 a.m. – Hard Knocks For Jocks: Truth or Dare & Youth Concussions

Christopher C. Giza, MD, Professor of Pediatric Neurology and Neurosurgery

9:45 a.m. – Break

10 a.m. – Medical Management of Concussion Injuries

Thomas Kurian, MD, Board Certified in Neurology

10:30 a.m. – Solving the Concussion Crisis,

Andrew M. Blecher, MD

11:15 a.m. – Panel Discussion

Christopher C. Giza, MD

Thomas Kurian, MD

Andrew Blecher, MD

Coach Joe Monteleone, Valencia High School

Sarah N. Ehrsam, MA, ATC

12 p.m. – Closing

Surisham Dhillon, MD, Valencia Neurology Medical Group

To RSVP to the event, email concussionconference@henrymayo.com or call 661-200-1300.

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Concussion Conference To Bring Awareness To Santa Clarita Parents

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About Kimberly Beers

Kimberly Beers is a Santa Clarita native. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from California State University, Northridge in 2013. While attending the university, she focused her attention on news writing and worked as a primary news writer for the campus' award winning radio station and televised news program. She began writing news stories for KHTS in 2014 and hopes to have a lifetime career dedicated to writing and sharing the news