A GOOD FIRST STEP! The Province of New Brunswick, Canada has responded well to THE HOCKEY DOCTORS to heighten the awareness oc youth sports concussions across Canada. Recently, New Brunswick Minister of Health Fleming, declared May 27 Safe Kids Week, “Heads Up, Be Aware, Be Safe aware of concussions..” An organization named parachute is also a contributor to this effort to heighten the awareness of brain injuries and other forms of head trauma. All efforts, when directed to the underlying cause and effect of these injuries is critical for awareness to grow and for more parents to consider the safest of sports for their child. What’s next for the Province? Unfortunately, few if any of the public were aware of the week and fewer activities were planned by the Province or communities to heighten that awareness. Why? The first thing Minister Fleming and the legislative body can do is get serious about the issue of head injuries in child athletes and appropriate the necessary funds to carry-out simple activities like promoting it properly. This not a case of omission by the Province it is flagrant commission! To move to the next level and adopt the significant guidelines THE HOCKEY DOCTORS have prepared (for States in the United States and Provinces across Canada) a document that will help them implement new guidelines to protect children from head trauma in contact, collision and combat sports. The first rule out of Fredericton should be to impose pre-season testing (paid by the provincial government) on all youth sports athletes from their initial entry into the sport through their graduation from high school. This accomplishment would demonstrate that the Minister of Health and the legislature are serious about protecting children and their brains and not simply trying to garner votes with a PR slogan that has no meat on its bones! th , thru June 2 nd . The following was the “statement” from the Mi nester of Health, Hugh Flemming Safe Kids Week May 28, 2013 Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to inform the House this week has been designated as Safe Kids Week in New Brunswick. Injuries can happen at any age and in any environment. Mr. Speaker while the majority of New Brunswick children are healthy, unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among Canadians aged one to 14 years old. Of the Atlantic Provinces, New Brunswick had the highest rate of unintentional injury hospitalizations of children over the 10-year period from 1996-2005. More specifically, Mr. Speaker, New Brunswick had the highest rate of injury hospitalizations of children for falls, ATV/Off Road Vehicles and snowmobile injuries, and injuries to children as passengers in motor vehicles. This year’s Safe Kids Week theme is “Heads Up! Be Alert, Be Safe, Be Aware of Concussions” aligns with our government’s priority to raise awareness regarding unintentional injury. Mr. Speaker, last fall the Framework for the Prevention of Unintentional Injury in New Brunswick was announced. The framework is our starting point to better support effective, equitable and sustainable approaches to injury prevention in this province. This framework emphasizes the role we all play to raise awareness among our families, friends, colleagues, and communities about the gravity of unintentional injury and how we must work together to make New Brunswick a safer place for our children. I encourage members on both sides of the House and all New Brunswickers to show their support for Safe Kids Week by minimizing the risk of injury where we live, learn, work, play and heal. THE HOCKEY DOCTORS call upon Minister Fleming to meet with us and to discuss our plan for implementation of new and expansive rules for all contact, collision and combat sports, so that the ball for change can begin rolling before the beginning of the upcoming scholastic sports seasons. THE HOCKEY DOCTORS
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 23:14:27 +0000
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