Last school year, a neuropsychologist was stationed on the sidelines at nearly every varsity football game in Frisco ISD.
Efforts to help student athletes who suffer concussions have evolved since then, with more sports and more athletic departments in the district benefiting from the partnership with Baylor Scott & White Health System. The extra resources ensure that students get the treatment they need on and off the field.
"It takes a village — you've got to have everybody on board," said Dr. James Sterling, medical director for the Baylor Scott & White Sports Concussion Program.
The nonprofit health system and the school district have had a close relationship since the plans were announced for Baylor Scott & White Sports Therapy & Research at The Star. The medical complex, which opened earlier this year, is a joint effort between the health system and the Dallas Cowboys. As a partner with the city of Frisco and the Cowboys in the Ford Center across the street, Frisco ISD benefits too.
The goal is to enhance safety for all athletes.
Injured students get help not only with the physical symptoms but also with their academic health. Ten years ago, students with a concussion were typically kept out of school for as long as a month as part of their recovery. These days, school nurses, teachers and athletic trainers are looped into the treatment plan so they can watch for symptoms and adjust as students return to campus much sooner.
"It's a treatable injury," said Dr. Erin Reynolds, clinical director for the sports concussion program. "A lot of people don't know that, even in 2018."
Baylor Scott & White Health's concussion program is still growing. It offers regular concussion clinics so students can be evaluated sooner. And it uses a multidisciplinary approach to treatment. In addition to having a neuropsychologist, the program has a vestibular physical therapist and athletic trainers who work with team physicians and the school district's athletic trainers.
"The vestibular system coordinates your head, your inner ear and your balance systems," physical therapist Kayla Covert said. "All three have to be working and in tune with one another in order for us to be symptom-free."
The district's coaches and athletic trainers also work hand in hand with health professionals, whether families seek treatment from Baylor Scott & White Health System or another program.
"We're working as a team for our kids," said Jennifer Lamabe, a certified and licensed athletic trainer at Frisco's Centennial High School.
That's comforting for Michele Salembier, whose daughter suffered a concussion during a Centennial volleyball game on Sept. 28.
Sophomore Kaylin Salembier struck her head when she dove backward. Kaylin said she wanted to keep playing. But her eyes were crossed and she was unsteady on her feet. The athletic trainer pulled her from the Friday night game.
Kaylin was soon headed to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with closed head trauma and sent home. Her mother kept in touch with the school's athletic trainer and coach through the weekend. By Monday, Kaylin was enrolled in the concussion protocol with Reynolds.
Kaylin had passed an initial screening, but she just wasn't herself. "I appreciated the fact that the doctor listened to me as her mom who knows her," Michele Salembier said.
Kaylin spent two weeks recovering and is back on the court playing club volleyball. And while her teammates joked about her wanting to stay in the game, she said, she learned an important lesson about head injuries.
"It's not something you take lightly," Kaylin said.
