The BMJ has recently described new guidelines from the UK government, which suggest that anyone with a suspected concussion during any level of sport should immediately be removed from play (Iacobucci, 2023).
The guidance, ‘If in Doubt, Sit Them Out’, is aimed primarily at the general public and people of all ages who participate in grassroots sports, where healthcare professionals are typically not available on site to manage concussion.
Teammates, coaches, match officials, team managers, administrators, or parents and carers who suspect someone may have concussion
must do their best to ensure that the individual is removed from play in as rapid and safe a manner as possible”.
If a neck injury is suspected, the player should be moved only by healthcare professionals with appropriate training, it adds.
It says that once someone with a suspected concussion is safely removed from play they must not return to activity that day, and not until an appropriate healthcare professional has agreed they can return.
