'Play It Safe' Event Stresses Concussion Awareness, Injury Prevention

CINCINNATI—"Play it Safe,” the 2012 Injury Prevention Symposium & Expo, will provide a broad overview of everyday safety from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, June 15, at Drake Center. Topics will include sports-related injuries, first aid, emergency preparedness planning, injury prevention, car safety, falls, acute care and sideline treatment.

The program, which is sponsored by UC Health, offers CEU credits and features members of the University of Cincinnati (UC) faculty. It is targeted to athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, school nurses, law enforcement professionals, athletes and parents.

The program will address the prevention and treatment of many types of injuries, including mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions, which occur about 300,000 times each year in sports.

During a concussion, UC experts say, some of the complex, interconnected brain cells known as neurons are injured. The brain needs time to recover after a concussion, and athletes who suffer one concussion are at increased risk of having another. Repeated concussions are cumulative.

Speakers will be members of the UC faculty: Norberto Andaluz, MD, director of neurotrauma at the UC Neuroscience Institute and a Mayfield Clinic neurosurgeon; Sheital Bavishi, DO, director of brain injury at HealthSouth (Drake Center) and a UC Health rehabilitation specialist; Jon Divine, MD, a sports medicine specialist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, UC Health orthopedist and head team physician for UC Athletics; and Jonathan Ratcliff, MD, an emergency medicine resident at UC. 

Cost is $20 for professionals; students may attend at no charge. Register at www.uchealth.com/playitsafe. Registration deadline is May 30, 2012. Contact 513-558-1810.