Guidelines highlight baseline testing

New recommendations announced on Monday aim to protect athletes

Danielle Lappage clonked heads with another wrestler during a training camp at Brock University last summer.

Typical of a driven athlete, the 28-year-old Olympian from Olds, Alta., tried to shake it off and continue until dizziness and nausea made it impossible.

Lappage returned to Calgary to consult with concussion specialist Dr. Brian Benson, who confirmed she was in fact concussed.

A couple weeks later, Lappage told Benson she was ready to return to the mat. Benson showed her data that said otherwise in the form of baseline tests conducted when she was fully healthy.

“The baseline test allows you to compare post-concussion to pre-concussion and make sure those numbers are back to their original before you go back to sport,” Lappage said. “This baseline test insures you don’t go back before you’re ready.

“To take that stress off me as an athlete — and to not give me the choice because I would always choose to go back — to kind of take that out of my hands is actually great for me.”

Baseline testing is among the recommendations in national concussion guidelines announced Monday for Canadian athletes in high-performance sports.

The guidelines were developed by chief medical experts of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Own the Podium, and the network of high-performance sport institutes across the country.

“While we have great athletes, our talent pool is actually relatively shallow when we look at our competitor countries like the U.S. and U.K., Germany and China,” COC chief medical officer Bob McCormack said.

“It’s important we give them the best possible care to make sure they’re able to perform at the highest level. Our priority is safety. To have evidence-based guidelines ... at the highest possible level to protect the athletes and make sure they can get back as quickly, as safely, as possible is important.”