AIHA CONCUSSION POLICY

Over the past month or so we have had a small number of players affected by concussion ( both on & off the ice ) so I thought it prudent to remind all that AIHA takes the issue of concussion very seriously & its everyones responsibility to make sure we put the individuals health & well being first.

AIHA Concussion Policy

* If the player shows any visible signs of a head injury/concussion, they are not to be allowed to continue playing for the remainder of the game.

The player’s name and details of the injury (dazed, dizziness, vomiting, unbalanced or knocked out etc.) to be recorded in the game sheet in the “Note” section at the bottom of the game sheet & this will be recorded on the SNC website against respective individual's player profile.

The on-ice officials must also immediately inform the player’s coach and/or manager of this so that the player can be kept from taking the ice again.

Alternatively, if the symptoms go unnoticed by a match officials but are noticed by the coach or manager of the injured player, they must report the injury to the scorer (to record on the game sheet) to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their own player.

Whilst officials and coaches are clearly not trained physicians they must make a judgment call on any obvious visible symptoms and need to do so to ensure player safety.

Before the concussed player can return to any AIHA League or NZIHF competition they must either:

A. Get clearance from a doctor, and provide a certificate from him/her,

or

B. Sit a mandatory three-week stand-down from date of last symptom.

If player’s name appears on the game sheet with an incident of concussion, the player will then be notified of this by SNC League Director. The respective SNC teams Manager & Coach will also be notified to keep individual off the ice until either medical clearance is provided or mandatory stand down period has been completed. 

See NZIHF Concussion Policy (https://nzicehockey.co.nz/assets/Documents/NZIHF-Concussion-Policy.pdf)