Safety net

Bryce Alderton

In a move to increase player safety, Newport Harbor is making

leaps.

In July, Newport Harbor football players on all levels took tests

on computers that assessed their memory skills.

Douglas Harrington, a Newport Beach neuropsychologist specializing

in injuries to the brain, administered the tests over two days in

late July as players wrapped up summer conditioning.

Harrington approached Newport Harbor Athletic Director Eric Tweit,

who then referred Harrington to Brinkley last spring.

“He explained the program and it seems like a real beneficial

program to me,” Brinkley said.

Harrington uses ImPact 2.0, a Microsoft Windows-based program that

can be administered by an athletic trainer, coach or physician, that

measures cognitive activity such as word discrimination, design

memory and visual attention span among other brain functions.

Each player received a baseline score specific to them when they

took the test in July. If they suffer a concussion in a game or

practice, they would retake the same tests to determine if they

returned to their baseline level.

Harrington, Newport Harbor Team Physician Alex Tischler and

Athletic Trainer Brian Melstrom would then meet to assess the scores

and the team or family physician would make the final decision

whether a player could return to play.

“I hope this sort of evaluation can reduce the likelihood of a

tragic thing like that from happening again,” said Harrington,

referring to the death of Costa Mesa High football player Matthew

Colby last September after Colby took himself out of a Sept. 28 game

against Westminster.

An autopsy revealed Colby died from two brain injuries that caused

bleeding and swelling of the brain.

“This will prevent an athlete from going back to a competitive

situation where (he or she) might have another concussion upon an

already existing concussion,” said Harrington, speaking of

second-impact syndrome, which occurs when an athlete suffers a head

injury and is hit in the head again before the injury has completely

healed.

“The brain can catastrophically go into a spasm and cause severe

injury if not death,” Harrington said.

Newport Harbor is the first Orange County high school to use the

program, according to Harrington, but the tests are being used by

about 150 high school in the Northeastern United States.

Professional teams in the NHL and NFL as well as Division I

college teams currently use the program as it slowly filters its way

into the high schools.

Harrington is the neuropsychology consultant to the Anaheim Mighty

Ducks, who have also been tested.

“It would not surprise me to see more schools do this assessment

over the next few years with other sports as well,” said Harrington,

a 20-year Newport Beach resident who received his Ph.D. from the

University of Southern California and has had two daughters graduate

from Newport Harbor and a son who will enter as a freshman this year.

Tischler and Melstrom will meet next week with Harrington to

discuss how to evaluate scores should a player suffer a concussion,

determining the proper medical procedure to follow for a player’s

subsequent return, Brinkley said.