Melons on the Move: Concussion Awareness Now Takes a Road Trip
Concussion Awareness Now is six months old now, and the Melons have been a hit. People remember them, they like them, and the message is clear: Don’t mess with your melon; if you hit it, get it checked.
We recently brought the Melon family on the road to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) and National Neurotrauma Society (NNS) conferences, where people posed for photos with our *adorable* Melon Family characters. But they also learned how to become champions for our cause.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, at the NATA conference, we discussed the importance of concussion prevention and diagnosis in youth sports at a press conference alongside the athletic trainers from the Buffalo Bills (who saved Damar Hamlin’s life) and other local experts. Dr. Beth McQuiston, a neurologist herself and medical director at Abbott, talked about the differences by gender – for instance, girls who play high school soccer are at nearly the same risk for traumatic brain injury as boys who play high school football. McQuiston also encouraged parents to know the symptoms of concussion and to create safe places to help their kids make what can be tough calls to sit out of a game and take care of their brain.
At the NNS conference in beautiful (and oh-so-very hot) Austin, Texas, we shared the Melons and our cause with neurology experts, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback and commitment to sharing information with patients about concussions, their severity, and the importance of getting them checked, so people can heal optimally. You can’t treat what you don’t know.
Whether you’re an athletic trainer, a neurosurgeon – or a school nurse or concerned parent — we’ve developed some easy and printable posters, brochures, infographics and videos for you to use to help spread the word about our cause. Feel free to download them yourselves, and we hope you’ll put them up in your offices, hallways and meetings.
You can always email us at info@concussionawarenessnow.org if you’re interested in joining our cause or partnering in a bigger way to share our message.