Advice for sports concussion

National leaders in sport and medicine have united to address growing health concerns about concussion, launching a one-stop online resource to support and protect sport participants.

The Australian Institute of Sport and Australian Medical Association established a joint position statement on concussion in sport and have launched www.concussioninsport.gov.au, an Australian Government-funded website providing simple but specific advice for athletes, parents, teachers, coaches and medical practitioners.

The launch comes after a 60 per cent rise in the number of people admitted to hospital for sport-related concussion over the past decade, with general knowledge about concussion management at a community sporting level rated as poor.

AIS chief medical officer Dr David Hughes said a simple piece of advice that applied to everyone was “if in doubt, sit it out”.