Yorktown Athletic Club primarily follows Yorktown High Schools' return to play guidelines, post-concussion.
Below you will also find other Return to play Guidelines from various organizations.
YAC Return To Play Guidelines
At the direction of our school physician, Dr. Louis Corsaro, our Concussion Management Team, and the Yorktown Central School District Board of Education, Yorktown High School follows the concussion guidelines set forth by the Berlin Concussion Consensus Statement and New York State Law as follows:
Return To Play Guidelines:
Any time during practice or competition that a student-athlete experiences any sign(s)/symptoms(s) of a concussion he/she will not be permitted to return to play/practice that day. Proper evaluation and follow-up must be completed by the Athletic Trainer.
- Athletes may return to play when he/she meets the following criteria:
- Initial evaluation by Physician*.
- Asymptomatic for 24 hours.
- Second medical clearance to commence the Berlin RTP Progression (see below).
- Successful completion of the Berlin RTP Progression.
- Final medical clearance to return to full contact.
*Physicians evaluating concussed athletes must be “trained in the evaluation and management of concussions”. Physician clearance notes inconsistent with the concussion policy will not be accepted and such matters
will be referred to our school physician.
Berlin Return to Play Progression**
YHS follows a stepwise activity progression based on recommendations from the Berlin Consensus Statement, 5th International Conference on Concussion in Sport, 2017 as follows:
Stage 0: Rest until symptom-free (asymptomatic)
Stage 1: Symptom-limited activity (Daily activities that do not provoke symptoms)
Stage 2: Light aerobic exercise supervised.
Stage 3: Sport-specific exercise (i.e. jogging, running-30 minutes, sport-related drills, supervised)
Stage 4: Non-Contact Exercise (increased ex. intensity, sport-specific drills-45 minutes)
Stage 5: After final physician clearance, Full contact practice activities
Stage 6: Final Clearance by District Physician and Athletic Trainer, cleared for return to play **A maximum of one stage is completed daily
ImPACT Testing (www.impacttest.com) IS Not Available through YAC Sports
NYSPHAA Current Return To Play Recommendations
CONCUSSION GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURE
Concussion Management Protocol
Return to play
Return to play following a concussion involves a stepwise progression once the individual is symptom-free. There are many risks to premature return to play including a greater risk for a second concussion because of a lower concussion threshold, second impact syndrome (abnormal brain blood flow that can result in death), exacerbation of any current symptoms, and possibly increased risk for additional injury due to alteration in balance. These NYSPHAA current returns to play recommendations are based on the most recent international expert opinion.* No student-athlete should return to play while symptomatic. Students are prohibited from returning to play the day the concussion is sustained. If there is any doubt as to whether a student has sustained a concussion, it should be treated as a concussion. Once the student-athlete is symptom-free at rest for 24 hours and has a signed release by the treating clinician, she/he may begin the return to play progression below (provided there are no other mitigating circumstances).
Day 1: Light aerobic activity
Day 2: Sport-specific activity
Day 3: Non-contact training drills
Day 4: Full contact practice
Day 5: Return to play
Each step should take 24 hours so that an athlete would take approximately one week to proceed through the full rehabilitation protocol once they are asymptomatic at rest and with provocative exercise. If any post-concussion symptoms occur while in the stepwise program, then the student should drop back to the previous asymptomatic level and try to progress again after a further 24-hour period of rest has passed.