District to Offer Student-Athletes Free Baseline Concussion Testing

Loudoun (Va.) County Public Schools this year will provide student-athletes with a free baseline concussion test, which the school said could provide doctors with valuable information should a student suffer a head injury. 

The school is able to provide the testing through a partnership with the Inova Sports Medicine Concussion Program. 

“All 14,000 of our student athletes will be given a free neurocognitive baseline test prior to activities with the goal of improving concussion management, for the student athletes of LCPS,” said assistant athletic director Derek Farrey, according to WTOP News. “The testing will be provided at no cost to families and is the first of a kind program in this area.”

In addition to contact sports (including football, soccer and baseball), Dr. Melissa Womble, the director of the Inova concussion program said the partnership will include “for the first time ever, noncontact athletes in sports such as cross country, who are also susceptible to concussions.”

“The data from these preseason assessments will go a long way in helping my team and I provide individualized and targeted treatment and management for student athletes that may sustain a concussion,” said Womble.

The testing is done on a computer and takes about 20 to 30 minutes. It can be administered in a computer lab or at the student's home. 

“It looks at verbal memory, visual memory, processing speed and reaction time,” said Womble. “Those are the areas of cognitive functioning that can be affected, post-concussion.”

Doctors can use the baseline to gauge a student's progress in returning to it after a head injury. 

“It looks at verbal memory, visual memory, processing speed and reaction time,” said Womble. “Those are the areas of cognitive functioning that can be affected, post-concussion.”