Concussion Management for Medical Practitioners and Healthcare Professionals

Welcome to the Concussion Management for Medical Practitioners and Healthcare Professionals online resource.

This resource is designed for doctors and healthcare professionals who want to better understand concussion for situations where an athlete presents with a head injury.

Before undertaking this education module you should have completed the World Rugby Concussion Management for the General Public module.

World Rugby takes Player Welfare very seriously and played a central role in the development of Consensus Statements on Concussion in Sport. This learning resource is based on these Concussion Statements.

This resource is designed to safeguard that players who suffer concussion are managed effectively to protect their long-term health and welfare.

Doctors and healthcare professionals who are working in a rugby setting are encouraged to Medical Protocols for Match Day Medical Staff, a resource developed to provide Rugby Team Doctors and Match Day Medical Staff with an understanding of their responsibilities and highlight some of the issues that they may face in the course of their work.

Doctors and healthcare professionals who are working in a rugby setting using the HIA Protocol are required to successfully complete “Concussion Management for Match Day Medical Staff using the HIA Protocol” online module. This resource has been developed to provide Match Day Medical Staff with a n understanding of the Match Day Doctor and of the implementation of the Head Injury Assessment process.

For the purposes of this resource, ‘Medical Practitioner’ means a doctor of medicine, and ‘Healthcare Professional’ means an appropriately-qualified and practising physiotherapist, nurse, osteopath, chiropractor, paramedic or athletic trainer.

At the end of each section there are questions. Please note that some questions may have one or more correct response(s).

Thanks for their help in the production of this concussion resource go to:

• Dr Simon Kemp, Head of Sports Medicine, RFU
• Tim Holgate of London Scottish
• Jon Bates and the Community Rugby Coaches of the RFU
• Dr Colin Fuller