A new tool in the App Store is making it easier for coaches and trainers to diagnose, track and manage concussions suffered by their athletes during games or practices.
The app, created by researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin, gives coaches and team personnel a simple reference tool to evaluate the severity of head injuries. The app was the brainchild of brain injury researcher Adam Pfaller, who felt the need for a comprehensive concussion management app was “obvious.”
“There were no good apps on the market that track symptoms for an athlete who gets a concussion,” Pfaller said. “Plus, patients can have biased or poor recall.”
Wisconsin recently passed a state law that requires concussion awareness training for coaches, but the new app makes it easier for coaches to have reference information in their pockets at all times.
STAC Concussion App Features
The app is called S.T.A.C, which stands for Symptom Tracking App for Concussions, and can be found in the app store by searching “STAC Medical.” The app has a whole host of helpful features. Here’s a look at what the app offers:
- Athletes can provide a baseline assessment of their uninjured state by answering questions about symptom prevalence on a score from 0-6.
- When a head injury occurs, coaches or trainers can log a variety of information about the concussion, including if consciousness was lost, how long the athlete was unconscious and if the player is experiencing memory loss.
- Athletes can then track symptoms as they recover, including if they are dealing with a headache, head pressure, neck pain, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, balance issues, sensitivity to noise or light and difficulty concentrating.
- The app provides six stages of return-to-activity suggestions based on symptom prevalence.
- The app shares information on the common signs of a concussion and dangerous symptoms that suggest medical intervention is necessary.
Pfaller said he noticed a need for an effective concussion tracking tool when he was coaching youth football. He noticed that these young kids were suffering head injuries, but they didn’t always have access to trainers or medical experts like many high school, college and professional athletes do.
“I was a volunteer football coach and I thought that this symptom checklist would be a great idea to help out the youth football coaches who don’t have daily access to trainers,” said Adam Pfaller.
He also noted that the app can be helpful for parents who want to monitor their child’s symptoms throughout their recovery from a concussion.
Dr. Silverman Comments
This is a helpful app that will help coaches and parents track concussion symptoms throughout an athlete’s recovery period. Not only does it help establish a baseline, but it allows the athlete to record their symptoms so coaches can ensure they aren’t putting an athlete back in the game before they are ready. The app also gives coaches and parents information on what to look for as they help athletes recover.
I hope this app makes it way onto the smartphones of coaches across the nation. Coaches, parents and athletes would all benefit from more comprehensive concussion management.