In the 2014 soccer World Cup, concussion assessment protocols were not followed in more than 60 percent of plays in which players involved in head collisions were not assessed by
sideline health care personnel, according to a study published by JAMA.
If no medical
personnel are on the sports
sideline, any athlete showing potential signs of concussion, such as balance or motor incoordination (stumbles, slow / labored movements), disorientation or confusion, loss of memory, blank or vacant look or visible facial injury combined with any of these other symptoms, should be removed from play, barred from returning and referred for a formal evaluation by a qualified
health care professional.