Franklin Regional grad takes over Independence concussion management program

When Alex Fleming was helping the Franklin Regional Panthers football team win the PIAA’s 2005 AAA championship, he wasn’t thinking much about concussion protocol.

But as the 2007 Franklin Regional graduate moved on to Davidson College — where he played football while pursuing a biology degree before earning his medical degree from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine — concussions began to occupy a much more central role in discussions about athletes’ well-being.

Two years after Fleming graduated, the National Football League barred defenders from using their helmets, forearms or shoulders to make contact with the head or neck area of a defenseless receiver, a rule that was expanded the following year in 2010.

Fleming recently took over the concussion management program for the Independence Health system. He follows in the footsteps of longtime program head Dr. Jim Masterson, who died in July 2023.

“He taught me a lot of things I didn’t know and really put this clinic into a respectable place,” he said. “He put the ImPACT testing and a lot of other tools in place and showed me how they can really help patients.”

Below, see what physically happens to the human brain when it sustains a concussion.

Fleming said he wants to balance the need for safety in contact sports with the positive benefits he’s received from them.

“I don’t think I’d be where I am today without football,” he said. “I want to make sure everyone who wants to play football or another contact sport has the opportunity to do it as long as they want.”

In service of that goal, Fleming will offer concussion baseline testing for student athletes at his Greensburg office through Aug. 5. The $25 test uses ImPACT, a computer-based testing program.

“I took it when I was at Franklin Regional,” Fleming said. “It’s a way to assess your brain’s ability to perform memory and reaction drills, verbal and visual memory, and those different aspects of your brain that allow it to react.”

Participants spend about a half hour taking the test, which is done by computer.

“It lets us know where a player is at, so that if they do sustain a concussion, we have more data to compare, to see how they may have been affected,” he said. “We also provide them with an access number so they can take this test with them to any school district or college in the future.”

Penn-Trafford athletic officials have contracted athletic training services with Independence (formerly Excela) for more than a decade, and follow its concussion protocols.

“We’ve always required concussion testing for all sports, not just football,” said Penn-Trafford Athletic Administrator Kerry Hetrick. “We’re excited to work with a local high school grad who’s now at the helm of the concussion program.”

Franklin Regional has contracted with Allegheny Health Network for its athletic training services going back more than two decades, according to senior trainer Lauren Colosimo. It includes an offer of concussion baseline testing for all student athletes.

“Some people do that through us but it can also be done through their pediatrician,” Colosimo said.

The test itself varies slightly depending on who is administering it.

“Each test is a little bit different,” Colosimo said. “Our test is called Sway Medical, and there are other tests like ImPACT and others. But they all test similar things like memory, reaction time, cognitive function and that sort of thing.

When Fleming was in high school, a player suspected of receiving a concussion would be sent to a dark room to rest, and might even go back out onto the field later in the same game.

“I think the main thing that’s changed is the treatment options,” he said. “A lot of the return-to-play protocols have changed, and now there’s a minimum three-day process when it comes to returning to noncontact practice, contact practice and then games.”

Insurance does not cover the $25 cost of the testing at Independence, but Fleming said he hopes it can be a tool to help student athletes continue playing the sport he loves.

“(Former Franklin Regional coach Greg) Botta always talked about teamwork and discipline being the core of success, and I’ve carried that into my school work, my residency and today,” he said.

To schedule a concussion baseline test through Independence, call 724-689-1070. Make sure to mention baseline testing, which differs from a standard concussion appointment.