Parent Request for data regarding injuries sustained by student from participating in athletics at the 25 high schools in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Md public school system.
Original Title
MCPS (Md) Parent Request for Sports Injuries Data 06-03-2014
Parent Request for data regarding injuries sustained by student from participating in athletics at the 25 high schools in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Md public school system.
Parent Request for data regarding injuries sustained by student from participating in athletics at the 25 high schools in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Md public school system.
I am writing to request, under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA), information regarding concussions and other injuries sustained by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) high school students while participating in MCPSs interscholastic athletics program. As described in more detail below, I am requesting such data from the following MCPS databases:
MCPS Student Accident Report Data; MCPS Athletics Concussion Database; and Athletic Trainer Data From 11 MCPS High Schools
I am also requesting copies of reports of injuries in the MCPS athletics program that you have received from staff or that have been given to the Board of Education. I am also requesting any reports to you or to the Board regarding MCPS students return-to-learn, i.e., returning to full academic participation after a concussion.
Data on sports concussions and other injuries are likely also available in information collected in MCPS high school students health charts by school nurses. Because school nurses are employed by the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Department (MoCo-HHS), I am requesting such information in a separate request from MoCo-HHS.
Data from these and any other sources regarding concussions and other injuries will be useful to you, the Board of Education, and Montgomery County Health officials in discharging their responsibility to keep MCPS students safe.
School-sponsored athletics are probably furthest from a public school systems primary mission of academic education, yet pose the greatest risk of personal injury to students. Some athletics injuries, such as a concussion, can compromise a students ability to participate in academic learning.
So it is important to review data about injuries in the MCPS Athletics program. As the old adage in education goes, you measure what you treasure. Reviewing the injury data that I have requested will show that you, the Board of Education, the County ( Executive, and the County Council treasure students safety and their ability to participate in academic education that MCPS provides.
In neighboring Howard County, since 2006 the Board of Education has received an annual report on injuries in the athletics program. 1
The MCPS Student Accident Report Form appears to have been developed with an eye toward insurance risk management rather than for athletic injuries from a public health perspective. Going forward, I recommend that you and the Board consider using software designed especially for tracking injuries in high school athletics.
1. Student Accident Reports
Background
MCPS Regulation EBH-RA requires MCPS staff to prepare a Student Accident Report when a student sustains an injury in a school athletics program and requires the school principal to submit the completed form to a risk management specialist at MCPSs Employee and Retiree Service Center. 2
Also, MCPSs July 2013 Concussion Plan requires an athletics coach to prepare a Student Accident Report whenever a concussion is suspected for a student participating in a school athletics program. 3
The MCPS Student Accident Form (MCPS Form 525-2) requires injuries to be coded by the activity in which they occurred, including Varsity and Junior Varsity sports as one of the 6 possible activities. 4 The Student Accident Form also collects data about the specific activity in which the injury occurred, e.g., football, 5 and about the nature of the injury being reported. 6
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+ .117-HNNOOO5-A28?45A,;N4,AN(*+*)BR**N9=>0L01"4$#1LI#M"2<LF$7,21LS,2; The full list of activity categories on the MCPS Student Accident Form are: 01 Elementary Physical Education 04 Secondary Physical Education 02 Elementary Noon Recess 05 Secondary Nonphysical Education 03 Elementary Nonrecess and Nonphysical Education 06 Varsity and Junior Varsity
T The full list of specific activities on Form 525-2 is as follows. The list, however, does not include lacrosse: 101 Archery 108 Dodge Ball 116 Muscleman 123 Soccer/Field-Ball 131 Vaulting Box 102 Badminton 109 Fencing 117 Parallel/Horizontal Bars 124 Softball 132 Volleyball 103 Balance Beam 110 Field Hockey 118 Physical Fitness/Calisthenics 125 Swimming 133 Weight Lifting &
Request No. 1
Please provide a report of the number of injuries that have been documented in a Student Accident Report form since July 1, 2013, breaking out the number of injuries in each of the six possible activity codings. Attached and at the link at this footnote is Template 1- A, which is an Excel spreadsheet that could be used to present the requested data. 7
For injuries coded as having occurred in high school Varsity or Junior Varsity athletics, for each high school, please provide the number of such injuries by sport in which they were sustained. Attached and at the link at this footnote is Template 1-B, which is an Excel spreadsheet that could be used to present the requested data for each high school. 8
Please also report the injury information systemwide for all 25 high schools. Attached and at the link at this footnote is Template 1-C and at this link is a spreadsheet that could be used to present the requested data for all 25 MCPS high schools. 9
The MCPSs risk management specialist in MCPSs Employee and Retiree Service Center who receives Student Accident Reports from MCPS principals informed me last year that submitted Student Accident Forms are placed in a drawer without any data entry into a database or further analysis by staff.
If no database has been established for data reported on the Student Accident Report, I respectfully request that you and the Board of Education instruct MCPS staff to create one and to generate the reports that I am requesting.
6 The full list of injury codings on MCPS Form 525-2 is as follows: 37 Abrasion/Bruise 32 Burns/Scalds/Chemical 27 Dislocation 22 Internal Injuries 30 Puncture 23 Amputation 24 Concussion 33 Electrical Shock 29 Laceration/Cuts 36 Sprain/Strain/ 25 Asphyxiation 21 Death 31 Foreign Body 34 Eye 38 Bite 28 Dental 26 Fracture/Chipped 35 Object in Mouth/Poisoning
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Request No. 2
Please provide a report of the number of concussions in MCPS Athletics concussion database, broken down by high school and by sport. Please also describe what other data is collected. Attached and at the link in this footnote is Template 2-A, which is an Excel spreadsheet that could be used to present the requested data for each high school. 11
Please also provide a report of sports concussions in all 25 high schools systemwide. Attached and at the link at this footnote is Template 2-B, which is an Excel spreadsheet that could be used to present the systemwide data requested. 12
3. Databases Maintained by Athletic Trainers at 11 MCPS High Schools
Background
This year, MCPS staff implemented a pilot program under which part-time athletic trainers were provided at 11 of MCPSs 25 high schools. As healthcare professionals, athletic trainers document important information regarding each injury for each student. For example, for concussions, athletic trainers document: when one is suspected; whether one has been diagnosed; when a student has been cleared to begin the five-stage gradual return to play steps; when a student has completed the gradual return-to-play steps; when a student has completed return to learn, i.e., returned to full academic participation without the need for accommodations that did not predate the concussion; and when a student has resumed his or her sport or whether he or she has discontinued playing the sport.
An athletic trainer records injury-related data in a database that allows reports to be generated about sports injuries occurring in the athletics program he or she covers. In neighboring Howard County, the school system has a part-time athletic trainer at each of its 12 high schools. From such a database, the Howard County Public School (HCPS)
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Request No. 3
Please provide a report from the database maintained by each athletic trainer assigned to a MCPS high school this year that shows the number of injuries, by high school, by sport, and by injury since July 1, 2013. Attached and at the link at this footnote is Template 3- A, which is an Excel spreadsheet that could be used to present the requested data for each high school. 14 Please provide the data for all 11 high schools with athletic trainers. Attached and at the link at this footnote is Template 3-B, which is an Excel spreadsheet that could be used to present the requested data for all 11 high schools. 15
If such reports have not previously been requested from the athletic trainers working for MCPS or from the healthcare providers such as Medstar that have donated the athletic trainers time, I request that you and Board of Education members request such reports and that I be provided with a copy pursuant to this MPIA request.
4. Other Reports Regarding Athletics Injuries
Request No. 4
Please provide a copy of all copies of reports of injuries in the MCPS athletics program that you have received from staff or that have been given to the Board of Education. For example, at the January 28, 2014 Board of Education meeting to discuss the FY 2015 operating budget, Board member Mike Durso asked MCPS Chief Operating Officer Larry Bowers about concussions data in MCPS athletics. Mr. Bowers replied that he would look into the issue and provide that information. 16
*& .117-HNNOOO5-A28?45A,;N4,AN*(*BP+B&QNC,O/24L=,"#1<L9/2<@/#4L>"?@8AL0A.,,@-LF$7,21L,DL I#M"28$-L8#LC8:.L0A.,,@L07,21-L>2,:2/;L())PL()** Between 2006 and 2012, the HCPS Athletics Department reported sports injuries each year to the Howard County School Superintendent and Board of Education at an open meeting in January of each year. The most recent report took place at the Howard County BOEs meeting on January 23, 2014 . Yhttps://www.scribd.com/doc/213671627/HoCo-Md-BOE- Agenda-01-23-14 ) Going forward, Supt. Starr should ask the MCPS Athletics Department make a similar annual presentation to the Board of Education at an open meeting.