House Health Care Committee hears several bills on child concussions.

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Intro:	A trio of legislators urged their fellow house members to support several bills that would protect young athletes who have suffered from concussions.
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Wrap: The House Health Care Committee heard three bills, all aimed at raising awareness for the effects of concussions.

Two of the bills require schools to work with Missouri State High School Activities Association to develop guidelines for dealing with head injuries. The other bill would require school staff to take a course helping to identify head injuries.

Green Castle Representative Zachary Wyatt is the sponsor of one of the bills, and says head injuries suffered in childhood can impact the rest of a child's life.

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Description: "These are our children, these are out future. Multiple brain injuries, multiple concussions, they are not going to be able to function after having two concussions."

No one spoke in opposition to the bills.

From the state Capitol, I'm Megan McGinnis.

Intro:	Athletes don't like being benched, but for athletes who have recently suffered a concussion, the bench is where they belong.
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Wrap: The house Health Care Policy Committee heard three bills which aim to create new regulations for dealing with athletes who have suffered a head injury.

The bills would require schools to establish a protocol for dealing with head injuries, they would also force school athletic staffs to take a course on dealing with concussions.

Kansas City Doctor Tom Tryon says better education is the key to preventing serious injuries.

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Description: "And education may well be the key, parents of children of all ages who are participating in sports needs to know the signs of concussion."

Often athletes are allowed to return to games before they are properly healed. Second Impact Syndrome can lead to physical, cognitive, and behavioral problems.

No one spoke in opposition to the bills.

From the state Capitol, I'm Megan McGinnis.

Intro:	Missouri Legislators are looking to protect young athletes from head injuries, a cause which is also supported by the Missouri State High School Activities Association.
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Wrap: A trio of representatives have come together to establish stricter protocol for dealing with child sports concussions.

The House Health Care Policy Committee heard three bills on the matter that would require schools to work with MSHSAA to establish a set of rules for dealing with head trauma.

MSHSAA Associate Executive Director Harvey Richards says education is an important part of prevention.

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Description: "I think that our forefront and the thing we need to make sure we do the most is have educational materials available to our parents, students, athletes, administrators, and coaches."

One of the bills would also require school athletic staffs to participate in a head injury safety training program.

No one spoke in opposition to the bills.

From the state Capitol, I'm Megan McGinnis.