Head injuries

When a student gets a head injury it is important to make sure they are okay and notify parents. The Utah State Board of Education has developed a model head injury policy along with flowcharts and checklists.

All parents should be notified of any head injury because they can continue to develop for days after an injury.

Local education agency (LEA) responsibilities (R277-614-4)

1. Head injury policies: LEAs must adopt and enforce policies for traumatic head injuries in physical education and extracurricular activities.
2. Immediate removal: Students suspected of a concussion or traumatic head injury must be removed from participation in sports or physical education immediately.
3. Medical clearance: Students cannot return to activities without an evaluation and a written clearance from a qualified health care provider.
4. Parent notification: Parents must be notified if a head injury occurs during school hours or school-sanctioned events.
5. Annual training: LEAs must provide training for agents on head injury prevention and response.
6. Public policy posting: LEAs must post their traumatic head injury policies on their websites.

Student athletes suspected of a concussion or traumatic head injury

These are the current requirements of Utah Code 26B-4-401 and 26B-4-404 regarding student athletes suspected of a concussion or traumatic head injury.

Current requirements:

• Evaluation: A "qualified health care provider" must evaluate the student. This includes a physician (MD or DO), an advanced practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant.
• Clearance: The qualified healthcare provider must provide a written document to clear the student to resume participation, which can be either:
  • Full clearance to return to all activities.
  • Clearance for a graduated return-to-play program.

Graduated return-to-play:

While the statute requires clearance from a qualified health care provider to begin a graduated return-to-play program, it doesn't explicitly say who oversees the program or if a second evaluation is needed for full clearance.

Best practice: The Utah High School Activities Association (USHAA) recommends an athletic trainer or other responsible individual oversee the graduated return-to-play program. Ideally, this individual would provide final clearance for full activity, or, if unavailable, the student would require a second evaluation by a qualified health care provider.

• Model concussion and head injury policy (USBE) 2021 
• Head injury flowchart (USBE) 2021

National resources:

• HEADS UP: A comprehensive resource from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that offers tools, guidelines, and training on concussion prevention, recognition, response, and recovery for athletes, parents, coaches, schools, and health care providers.
• American Academy of Pediatrics: Head injury prevention

• Head injury checklist 2021 (English)
• Parent notification 2021 (English)

• Head injuries—UCA 26B-4 section 401-405
• Athletes and students with head injuries—R277-614

School nurse trainings (Canvas)

• Head injuries—Return to learn and play (Sept 2024) 1 NCPD credit

Past webinars

• Concussion care in schools (February 2019)
• Student head injury response throughout the school day (May 2021)

• Conmocion cerebral: lista de verificaci n de indicios y síntomas 2021 (Spanish) Head injury checklist 
• Notificaci n para padres 2021 (Spanish) Parent notification