LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Some people who work with youth who play football are calling for more focus on concussion concerns and protocols.

Stephanie Griffin’s son had a concussion early on in his football career at just 12 years old. She says a mother in the bleachers was the only one who knew how to help him.

“That’s when I really discovered how little protocol, knowledge, that kind of stuff,” she says. “As far as there were no trainers on sight, no medical personnel. The coaches didn’t know what to do. Nobody really knew what to do. “

The woman from the bleachers, it turns out, was an athletic trainer for East Lansing High School.

Her son took a year off of football and will soon return to the gridiron, playing in high school football. Concussions fall under the protocols of the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

“If there is a suspected head injury during a contest or during any sort of activity, that athlete cannot return that day, until that athlete is cleared for return,” says MSHAA Communications Director Geoff Kimmerly.

Currently, MHSAA rules do not require medical experts to be present during games.

“When it comes to head injuries, awareness now is higher than it’s ever been which is great,” says Kimmerly. “Because that means, especially on our level, where the setting is a little closer, everyone is watching, everyone is keeping track of things. “

But the athletic trainer who helped Griffin’s 12-year-old son says she’d support requiring the presence of athletic trainers.

“The coaches are there to coach. I’m not being asked to make play calls, I’m not being asked to sub kids in and out. So it’s not fair to put that extra load on every coach,” says Kristen Williams, an athletic trainer at East Lansing High School. “You know, they need to do their job that they’re being paid or volunteering to do. The medical professional would be a much better thing. They just can default to them and things aren’t missed through the cracks, because we’re there to watch just for that stuff.”