% at what risk to students. that the one of the biggest worry that is we always have. a look at devastating injury and the means that some people are suggesting to protect the developing brain. that and more on this edition of qualm time. from -- that and more on this edition of equal time. giving equal time to competing points of view. hello from san jose state university and welcome to this edition of equal time. i'm your host bob rucker, friday night football, under

the lights it's a tradition on many high school campuses and so is the crack of the baseball bat. as we report, recent injuries are drawing attention at no point risks to high school student -- are drawing attention to the risks of high school students. >> torn ligaments and brain injuries, high school sports are becoming more and more popular and one of the most dangerous injury is the concussion. it can cause dizziness and loss of appetite and memory loss and the athlete can be knocked unconscience. young athletes and teens can

come back too soon and become more apt to have a more severe reinjury. where do the head injuries occur? you guessed it the football field. on thanksgiving day 2009, matthew blade nearly died after suffering this devastating hit. the 15-year-old was able to get up right after the hit but collapsed moments later. he had brain swelling and a blood clot the road to recovery is a tough one. >> in terms of brain recovery, we know that most of it happens within that 18 month period. but there's no doubt that research has shown that recovery continues many years down the line. >> it's nothing that matthew cannot handle. he is an amazing young man. >> the players are big men on

campus and the parents are proud, but is it an activity that schools should encourage. how well does football fit in with the mission of helping them grow. >> parents at this game told us they worry about their children suffering a devastating brain injury, but not enough to take them off the team. >> that is one of the biggest worries we always have. i mean, you never know. it's a brain injury, you never know how the hit on the field will effect the kids. you have to play it by ear. so, it's up to him what he wants to do with his life. >> with the number of hits going on out there, i got more concussions riding a skate board than playing football. the pads that the players wear is enough say the parents. >> there will be accidents and i do not see what else we can do. >> i know they have helmets and

take care of them and that is good enough. >> other sports including baseball have their share of injuries as well, on march 11, 2000 and 10, a pitcher was struck in the head by a line drive. the ball came at him at 100- miles an hour and hit him on the left temple before he could react. >> i saw it happen and i'll never forget the sound, he is my son's best friend and it was like it happened to my son. >> he was put in a medically induced coma while his skull was worked on. >> i mean, he is just amazing, the doctors, the therapists, every person that worked on him

is amazed at the recovery process he has made. at some points it was so low and we did not know what to expect and now he is outdoing his thing. >> high school and college kids are the ones that play with metal bats and major league plays with wood. if you want to play in the big leagues, playing with wood would get you farther. >> minor said trauma is not to be taken lightly. >> every concussion is bad, it's a brain injury. it's damage to the brain. >> parents feel that it's up to the athlete to decide whether they play through the injury. >> if i need to step in, that means he does not need to play. but other than that, if he can continue on, he can play. >> i think that you should err on the side of caution.

>> getting athletes to admit that they are injured in the first place is not always easy. >> you see players that play when they hurt, sprained ankles and knees, they will do i want, it's a physical game. >> sometimes people ignore head injuries, they say they just got dinged, they call it. slight headache, they try to play. that is not a good idea. some kids, some athletes will hide symptoms from the trainer and doctor. they do not want to be kept out of the game and you can understand that, but with head injuries, you only have one brain. >> for some athletes missing a game could mean much more. >> now changes are in the works to help the sports. we will show you the new rules and whether they are effective enough to be enough.

stay with us. , % welcome back to equal time. brain injuries suffered by high school athletes are prompting changes in some sports. we have shown you two students that are recovering. one that plays able and the other who is in football. we continue our story -- one that plays baseball and one that plays football. we continue our story. >> one big difference in this

game, no metal allowed. scott wood t shirts were sold and the proceeds went to the family. the entire league switched to swinging wooden bats for the rest of the season. >> hopefully we all learn from this and go forward and take that knowledge and do something positive with it and not let somebody else get injured. >> a study from 2007 said that a ball hit off of a metal bat reaches a pitcher faster and goes 5 miles an hour faster. it has a smaller -- appear wooden bat has a smaller sweet spot. but wood bats crack and the costs could go up to replace

bats. >> in an attempt to make the game safer changes are being made for high school baseball players. production of the bats will be broken in to make sure that performance or the speed the ball travels off of the bat does not increase with use. in other words these new metal bats will act similar to wooden bats in terms of sound. others say wooden bats are just as dangerous, they crack and the cost to replace them could add up. but others feel the safer the better. >> anything that helps one other family or kid does not have to go through something like this. >> and they should wear protective head gear. >> protective head gear. that is what is being developed here at the helmet technology

center one year after the injury. >> i was hit by a line drive that was going about 130 miles an hour. and obviously it was -- it was pretty traumatic, this new helmet was unveiled to protect pitchers on the mound, and some hope it will be a regular part of the game. >> this needs to be introduced at the youngest levels of baseball so they get comfortable with it so it's the type of product that they grab right away just like they grab their glove to get on the field. >> it all starts with someone setting an example. and then from there it will spread out and hopefully it will reach the entire world.

>> not all players may be for the new addition for the uniforms. but he knows what can happen without the extra protection. >> wouldn't you rather wear this than be in the hospital for two months? >> as for the comfort level of this 5-ounce helmet. i could wear it in my sleep. >> little leagues said that it has to go through testing before they mandate it for the league. no word yet on whether it will be used in the majors it's enough for now. until it's proven otherwise it's definitely suitable. >> when we come back, we will sit down with some experpetrates trying and strike a balance between sports and safety -- we will sit down with some experts, trying to strike a balance between sports and safety.

equal time will be , % right back. , % welcome back at no point campus of san jose state university and this edition of equal time. the focus is sports injuries and how are we dealing with them? are we doing so effectively. we have a good panel, let's hear from them. >> i'm the head football athletic trainer and my staff and i deal with concussions many time as year and the treatment plan. >> i'm teaching in the athletic

training education program. i've been a athletic trainer for over 12 years. >> i'm a student athlete at lincoln high school and i suffered a mild concussion while playing basketball. >> hi, my name is tony santos, i'm a high school football coach for the last 21 years. >> thank you for being here today everyone. we are all struck first of all about the personal story, you have experienced a concussion, can you tell us about that? >> it was the last week of basketball for my senior year and we were doing a machine gun drill and it was where we were supposed to take a charge and get run over by the person in line. and we were supposed to land on our butts and fall softly and that did not happen. and i got knocked on my back and hit my head on the floor. >> so, as an athletic trainer how do you handle it?

>> we would be at the practice with the athletes if not the games, our initial assessment will go through a series of tests, mental tests. are they awake and if they are, do they have memory loss or any kind of deficiency in terms of speaking ability? once that is determined we can take the next steps, whether it's an emergency reaction or we can go to a different location and do more assessments. >> as a coach, what is your responsibility in that situation? >> my responsibility is for the student's welfare and well- being. the coach's role is to defer to the trainer and be a support to the trainer. >> not getting them on the field rightway to win the game. >> winning is important but the student athlete is more important.

>> it makes sense but then there's the factor that somebody got injured. >> right, and many schools do not have and not afford a athletic trainer at practices. so a lot of these go unreported. >> what is the limit then, when is enough enough? how many injuries can these young people, women and men, have before they are injured permanently or long-term? >> there's not a definite number that has been studied. ideally you want a good track of their concussion. so for instance, if we know he has a history of concussions in his past and he recently had another one that is a big red flag that is has suffered multiple concussions over the last year or five years. and again, we would discuss that with his doctor and determine whether he should continue to play or stop

competition at all. >> go ahead. now the public hears about these type of things, concussions from watching games and whatever. you have lived. it. what does it feel like when a doctor tells you have a concussion? >> i did not see it coming. i just thought i had a headache after. because i never experienced it before. so i did not know what was going on. i was just, i had blurry vision and i was kind of light headed and within a day i felt fine. but i guess i had a concussion, so. >> did you stay in the hospital or go home? >> no, i went home actually. >> very good. your parents, how did they react? >> they said i should take it easy the next few days, and if i were -- and i were feeling good you enough to play again. i was still feeling good so i went out there. >> you are a young person and you say i'm fine, i'm ready to get back, i'm okay. do you say wait a minute, we

have other things to look at? >> yes. when you are the trainer there, you see the injury happen and you see the initial symptoms that the athletes are showing. i've taken an athlete to the doctor and a lot of the symptoms have resolved and they do not understand how severe it was when it actually happened. i have had physicians say, they are okay to play the next day. but these symptoms can go on longer. you are talking days and weeks and even in the classroom the students being able to focus, their needs to be an understanding that it takes time for these individuals to heal. as a trainer it's important to communicate with the parents and coaches and have that, maybe have a policy in place for how long those individuals will stay out to recover before they go back to return to play. >> you have to do that connection with the parent you

have to be intense with it? >> when i was a high school coach, it was a different set of responsibilities because it was almost like me and the parents were making the decision for the child. as a college coach, it's kind of a gray area because the student athlete is of age and so, at what point are they allowed to make their own decision. so that becomes a gray area. >> do students sometimes at the college level say that i am fine, play me. stop the nonsense. they try to force their way back on the team? >> of course they are. they appreciate the action and no one wants to look deficient when they play. and it's a fine line as a coach when you decide, does a person go in? let's say, the trainer did not see the injury occur, and you are dealing with a 1-1 situation with the athlete and

coach as opposed to the trainer who is in the middle. >> so let's ask the athletic exexperts here. >> -- so let's ask the athletic experts here. >> it's a decision that is ours and the doctor's decision when that athlete can return to play based on their cognitive level and then they will start light activity before they start return to play or getting back on the field. >> there are people out there watching us right now and says that sounds good and everything is in place, but if they get seriously injured that could effect the rest of their children's lives. do they come to you coach and say you are all about winning don't you care about the

humanity? >> i do. of course. but the parents are the biggest problem. they live through their student athletes. and i think that they want it more than the student athlete. and it becomes a big problem when their needs come in front of the children. that is a huge problem. >> you are a big guy, do you actually say that to parents? >> i have and it's not been popular. but, you know, the truth needs to be told. >> do you have responsibility to report your advice is one thing and the parents are pushing for another? >> there's no mechanism in place that i'm aware of. that would be something to consider. >> that might be something for all levels to be thinking about. when you see your coach going to bat for you, how do you

feel? >> i don't know. i mean, i want to help out my teammates and pull out wins for them at the games and like, i feel like the only way to do it is to be on the court whether i'm hurt or not. as long as i can still walk i feel like i can play. but i don't know. >> there's a feeling out there that this may be the future of your success. you could take the team to a championship or whatever. how do we get them to be rooted in the health issues that they must be focused on? >> there's great educational videos and talks about having a concussion on top of a concussion that can result in something very serious. the education of the parents of the athletes and coaches and the trainers and society, to

know the importance of how significant this injury is and what the life long result effects are. >> i'm a big football fan and i like to see them hit tough. am i playing into a idea that smash them up because that is what they are there for? >> no, that is what the big draw is to football. the impact, the bone crushing hits. but you have to realize the issues that come from that with concussions. >> it can effect their lives for decades to come. we hear the stories about football players and basketball players and baseball players, 20, 30 years later, they are disabled and they have all kind of funding concerns. do you have your players come to you and say i'll hit the way you want me to play or hit, but are you thinking about their

future, coach? >> i do. but when you are dealing with football in particular, there's a big element of peer pressure that we do not see that, we do not feel that. most times the injury is reported to a friend instead of the trainer and they get peer advice as opposed to professional advice and that is part of the problem. they think about the future and their future is the next quarter. that is their future. >> when they are not thinking about the future, you have to step in and give them good advice. and when they feel you are getting in the way of their career what do you say? >> i find the button to push, usually within the family. somebody that has more influence over the athlete than i do, and i use that and press the button as much as i can. >> you see the excitement of

the kids coming to play in the school, do you feel the unbalance between the desire to play and the desire to get a degree? >> yeah. when i'm in the heat of the moment and playing sports, i do not think like if i'm going to get injured, you know what i mean? and, i don't know. >> well do you think, i guess the question i'm asking is, when you get to a school like this where it could be a stepping stone to the pros and a sport but it's also a he stepping stone to your future through your academics, do you worry about i'm going to the pros and this is going to make me money or i need to make an investment in myself academically. >> students think when they love to do and what they love to do is play the game,

whatever sport they play. i am sure they will try to take it as far as they can. >> but that suggests to me, that there's recklessness that is involved? >> a bit. have you athletes that are thinking about you know their future financially one way or the other. i think a lot of athletes realize that this number that go to the professional sports is a very low number and we do at the high school level and college level try to stress that they are student athletes and try to keep them focused on academics, back to concussions, it can have lasting effects on how they are throughout their education as well and what they can do later on. so it's important to educate them on that. >> the bottom line for you as a trainer is to instill what

message in players? >> safety. definitely. safety and prevention. what we do with our team is in our preseason meeting we let them know, if any of you suspect one of your teammates are suffering an injury and they are not telling us, you let us know and we will check them out. >> we all have personal stories of either athletes we have seen on television or read about in the newspaper or in work experience where we have seen the worst case scenario play itself out, can you speak to that coach? a player or competitor going down the road of a sports injury? >> the particular with the head injuries, it's devastating. football and athletics is a short time period in a person's life. they have made advances with

equipment and you know, i liken it to putting more air bags in a car, it does not make driving less dangerous. when you see these impacteds of these massive individuals and you think about the physics of the impact, it's mind boggling. >> should we be toning it down, and say it's a sport. should we be thinking as fans and parents maybe we we are part of the problem? >> i'll disa -- and parents and maybe we are a part of the problem? >> i'll disagree, people that play football knows that there's those hits. in a sick way they appreciate it and want it and like it. >> but it never hurts for us aware of what the impact could

be because we never know what it could be on our children. >> that is correct. >> we thank all of you for coming and keep in touch with us on facebook and join us for another edition of equal time.