Learning Resources

PublicSchoolWORKS Debuts Online Concussion Trainings to Keep Student Athletes Safe

• By Sri Ravipati
• 08/22/17

In an effort to keep student athletes safe, school administration software provider PublicSchoolWORKS on Tuesday released a suite of concussion-related safety trainings for coaches, educators, nurses and other staff clinicians at schools.

A third of a million children in the United States under the age of 19 were diagnosed with a concussion or traumatic brain injury in 2013 (the latest year that data is available), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The PublicSchoolWORKS courses cover concussions from the basics to how to intervene when one occurs, so that school staff can be prepared to support students atheletes, who are more vulnerable to concussions.

The new suite includes five online trainings, such as “Concussion in Sports,” which provides an overview of signs and symptoms, how a concussion affects the brain, how to manage a concussion and how to stay safe. “Concussion in Schools – Return to Learn” discusses how these brain injuries can impact learning, emotion regulation or behavior, and delves into ways that teachers can support affected students. Similarly, the “Concussions in Youth Sports – Heads Up” reveals how exactly to help students re-enter sports and school following a concussion.

Meanwhile, “Concussion in Sports – A Guide for Coaches” is geared toward coaches, helping them implement an action plan for concussions before the season starts, and “Concussion in Sports – A Guide for Coaches” offers guidance to clinicians.

The online trainings have been deployed to PublicSchoolWORKS’ EmployeeSafe Suite, a set of school safety resources and web-based tools designed by school administrators. EmployeeSafe includes more than 500 online training courses for K–12 school staff, ranging from topics of emergency management to food safety. 

Further information on the trainings is available on the PublicSchoolWORKS site.