Arizona Sports Concussion Program Barrow Brainbook Reaches 1M Students
Download mp3 (1.25 MB)A decade ago, Barrow Neurological Institute teamed up with the Arizona Interscholastic Association and the Arizona Cardinals to create a landmark concussion education program for high school athletes.
Since then, Barrow Brainbook has reached more than 1 million young Arizonans.
Barrow is launching a Spanish-language version of the interactive program, which teaches concussion prevention, recognition and response.
Athletes must score an 80% to compete in AIA sports.
Through education, post-injury testing, helmet improvements and rules changes, Arizona and the Brainbook have helped move the ball on sports head injuries.
Cardinals wide receiver Christian Kirk recalled the difference he saw when Brainbook came to Saguaro High School.
“Usually we would just go through a normal baseline concussion test with our athletic trainer at the time, and it didn't allow things to be caught that were as in-depth as the Barrow Brainbook program,” he said.
Kirk advised young athletes to be honest because the brain is too important to take for granted.
"If you are feeling any of those symptoms that you learn about during the Brainbook program, you need to be honest, and you need to go to your athletic trainer and voice that something is wrong," he said.
To learn more about the program, The Show spoke with Dr. Javier Cardenas, the director of the Concussion and Brain Injury Center at Barrow.
Hear Javier Cardenas' Interview With Host Steve Goldstein On The Show
