Committee Approach Helps SMU Manage Head Injuries
When David Liner discovered that Southern Methodist University (SMU) faculty members were researching traumatic brain injury (TBI)—a topic he was focusing on—he had an epiphany: The institution should approach this risk management challenge from an enterprise standpoint.
Liner, director of risk management and executive director of environmental health and safety at SMU in Dallas, and research administrator Alicia Brossette—who told him about the faculty study—put the plan into action. They convened a committee with Mike Morton, director of sports medicine, who manages Division 1 football team injuries; the football team’s physician, who is also the student health center’s co-director; the head of recreational sports; representatives from the legal department; and faculty members in physiology and mechanical engineering.
Putting their heads together opened committee members’ eyes to new possibilities. Athletics staff learned more about the academic research on TBIs, and the academics discovered that many universities experienced head injuries that are treated on campus. Learning other departments’ concerns—including the potential for litigation—has increased awareness of and sensitivity to how concussions and TBIs can affect students, Morton said.
The full committee meets only a few times a year, but subgroups meet informally as often as every other week. They’re exploring how to prevent TBIs, recognize and manage symptoms, and educate faculty, administrators, and students.
Talk Turns to Action
The head injuries committee does more than just talk. Members are trying to improve management and awareness of the potential for TBIs in the school’s 17 varsity sports, cheerleading, and recreational sports. The new approach has helped reduce the number of potential TBIs at SMU, especially for football players, Liner said.
In women’s sports, Liner and Morton estimate soccer has one of the largest rosters at many institutions and therefore has the potential for an increased rate of TBIs. The committee has helped these student athletes understand their risks. “Moving forward, our attention has turned to cheerleading,” which could surpass women’s soccer in the potential for head injuries nationwide, Liner said.
“The current emphasis has been a focus on education and awareness,” Morton said. “We attempt to make sure each student athlete has an understanding of concussions, and I believe that our sports medicine staff has created a positive environment that encourages dialogue and reporting when injuries occur.” This enables SMU to properly manage injuries in male and female athletes from the onset.
When Liner examined general data, he was surprised to learn that more students suffer head injuries from recreational sports, intramural sports, pickup games, or ordinary slips and falls than from playing Division 1 athletics. That’s partly because intercollegiate sports have built-in oversight from coaches and trainers. One of the committee’s next projects will be to add athletic trainers to monitor recreational sports for potential TBIs.
SMU’s new approach has helped students off the playing field, too. “When a student has a head injury and tries to integrate back into the classroom, that can be a challenge,” Liner said. In Division 1 football, there are cases of players having several TBIs and for two or three months, they could not look at a TV or a computer screen. At SMU if a student suffers a head injury, the athletic department notifies teachers and explains the effects, and Liner expects more improvements in that area.
Expanding Collaboration
Other committee goals include holding campuswide forums to raise awareness of TBIs, and possibly meeting with other universities and high schools. SMU is pursuing a grant from the NCAA and the Department of Defense to help with its outreach and research efforts.
Liner, Brossette, and Morton agree that the committee approach fosters increased collaboration and is working well. For athletics, it has helped improve the existing concussion management policy. Athletics staff now sign acknowledgments that they’ve received instruction on managing TBIs, and SMU has a structured return-to-play protocol. “One of our goals is to have some of our mechanical engineering and physiology faculty stand on the sidelines at a football game and witness firsthand the impact,” Liner said.
SMU’s committee approach can work for any school, as long as people are open to collaboration. Morton said he is amazed that his counterparts at other schools often have no relationship with risk management staff. From the time he became athletic director, Liner was supportive. “Having that attitude of being a positive resource is awesome,” Morton said.
The committee approach has made TBIs a top-of-mind concern at SMU, Liner said. “I think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg.”
By Martha Spizziri, a business and education writer