One is that someone who suffers a concussion should be roused from sleep.
Q&A with Dr. Shelina Babul
Shelina Babul is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and sports injury specialist at BC Children’s Hospital.
What are common misconceptions when it comes to concussions in children?
A lot of physicians think you have to lose consciousness to have a concussion. But that only happens in approximately 10 per cent of cases.
Another misconception is that someone who suffers from a concussion should be roused from sleep several times during their first post-injury night. But sleep actually helps the brain heal. Instead, the injured person should be allowed to sleep but monitored occasionally to make sure breathing is normal.
You get a lot of calls from parents whose children have – or might have – suffered concussion, what can parents do to better educate themselves?
My colleagues at BC Children’s Hospital and I recently launched a web site, Concussion Awareness Training Toolkit (CATT), to provide physicians and nurses with a readily available tool that’s clear, accessible and based on the latest, verified standards of care. We’re currently developing training tools for school teachers and parents, coaches and players, but there’s a video library where experts – including UBC sports medicine professor Jack Taunton – discuss their work and it’s accessible to the public.