House Passes Law to Teach Athletes About Concussions - WLNS TV 6 Lansing - Jackson | Your Local News Leader

A House committee has adopted legislation ordering coaches, players and parents to learn more about sports related concussions, but the legislation stops short of ordering coaches to keep kids out of a game if they suffer such an injury.

In football, they call it getting your bell rung. In the medical field, it is called a neurocognitive deficit.

"Anytime that the skull is moved away with enough force that the brain experiences a deceleration of acceleration in the skull," said Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher with U of M Health Systems.

3.8 million sports related concussions happen each year nation wide, which led a House committee to approve the legislation.

"When in doubt, sit them out," said Republican Senator John Proos. "We want the kids to participate, but we want to stop injuries when they are hit one, two or three times and end up with long term medical effects."

The legislation does not mandate that coaches keep injured athletics out of the game, instead lawmakers leave it to the Athletic Association to police this through their rules and regulations.

"There's in there, this point. They can not return to play until they've been checked by a professional that is trained in recognizing this," said Republican Republican Tom Hooker.

A recent report done in our state recommends that tackle football be eliminated for those under the age of 16. That was not included in the legislation that is now on the House floor.