Tough Call and Head Injuries

 In the last 12 months there has been an increased discussion online among cyclists about concussios. Specifically around some articles that leaned towards the fear side of the discussion. Here I will not be sharing articles but a incident on January 7th. 

On January 7th at the Kingston Snophy Fat Bike race we had some crashes that involved some injuries.  One was a broken collar bone and one concussion.

CCA Concussion Management


Part way through the day we had just extracted a rider with a broken collar bone who was warming up and getting checked out by the race medic. During this a rider walked up stating that he rang his bell good. Which initially wasn't alarming. What raised the red flag was when he said..."I don't remember what lap I am on" and he was on lap one. Recalling past incidents to others in regards to concussions without hesitation I got him headed to the medical tent 10 feet away. And got the medics attention to take over. His race was over.

CCA Head Injury/Concussion Protocol


As a course worker it is not fun pulling a racer of the course. I raced endurance sport for years specifically triathlon where finish no matter what is the mind set. But I know it was the right call to have made for his long term mental health. Of course later when one is relaxing with a beer you analyze the event and think what could have been done. Even better when you have others who have knowledge on this to sto act as a sounding board. Fortunately I have a sounding board to talk it out with and figure out if something was missed.

My wife Joely is that person with who we have discussed numerous times head injuries related to her job. Joely's job is the RMCC Women's VolleyBall Head Coach and Head coach of the CISM team. So later that night with beer in hand shared with her the incident and what was done. And it was the same as what she would have done for any of her athlete's she coaches.

As a coach I feel that while we are seeing lots of discussion about concussions and long term effects. We also need to talk about incidents and what was done so that others may learn more about it.