It's every parent's worst fear.

Seeing a son or daughter lying motionless on the ground during a youth sporting event is not something that anyone wants to witness.

However, the reality is that high-impact sports such as football, hockey, or lacrosse have a high risk of athletes suffering severe concussions.

According to eMedicineHealth.com, concussions are a serious medical problem that can ultimately lead to long-term memory loss, psychiatric disorders, and other neurological problems.

In the period following the concussion, it is common for athletes to suffer from headaches, nausea, dizziness, and sensitivity to light and noise.

"It's basically the brain's response to the injury," said Sacred Heart University assistant athletic trainer Ben Batchelder.

One potentially serious problem happens when athletes come back too soon from a concussion in which they still suffer from lingering symptoms.

"It's our job to identify when these symptoms are going on because if [the player] returns too soon there's an element known as Second Impact Syndrome [or SIS] and that's basically what all these athletes are suffering from that die," said Batchelder.

Although SIS doesn't happen very often, it has been known to happen and some athletes have even died from it.

On Oct. 19, ESPN ran a story on the popular show "Outside the Lines" in which Jaquan Waller, a junior running back from Greenville, N.C., passed away after suffering Second Impact Syndrome.

According to ESPN, Waller suffered a head injury at practice on Sept. 17. The school's injury specialist evaluated Waller later that day in which he used a standard concussion questionnaire to determine the severity of his concussion but did not feel further medical attention was required.

Two days later, Waller played in a game without seeing a doctor. After two carries, Jaquan left the field in pain and collapsed on the sidelines shortly thereafter.

By the next morning he was determined to be brain-dead and was subsequently taken off life support.

According to ESPN, the high school Jaquan attended did not have a certified athletic trainer on staff and neither did many of the other high schools around the country in which cases of SIS have occurred.

"Personally I think that speaks volumes to what certified athletic trainers do," said Batchelder. "When I read that story [about Waller] I couldn't believe that that stuff is still happening but clearly it is," said Batchelder.

"It's a shame that it takes an instance like this to bring attention to the fact that there needs to be more certified athletic trainers and more attention to this issue," said Batchelder.

Although SIS is most common in teenagers, it is something that the trainers at Sacred Heart must always keep an eye on.

"The research says that high school kids are more likely to have concussions then college players based on their skill level and based on the development of their bodies," said Batchelder. "But athletic trainers and neurologists and physicians need to pay more attention to this thing and it goes all the way up; collegiate level and even professional level because it just can't happen."

More than 700 athletes participate in the 32 varsity sports at Sacred Heart. With this many athletes competing on a high-intensity level day in and day out, concussions are inevitable.

"We probably see around 20 to 30 [concussions] in a given year and with 700 student athletes, 80 percent of those are contact sports," said Batchelder.

The university's athletic training staff is taking steps to ensure the safety of the athletes on campus and to ensure there are no cases of SIS.

"Kids want to play," said Batchelder. "We understand that and we want them to play but we want them to be safe and it's our job to keep them safe and not let this happen to them and a lot of that is knowing our athletes."

The athletic training staff understands the importance of looking for noticeable signs and symptoms in dealing with potential concussion patients.

"One of the biggest things you will notice is mood changes," said senior assistant athletic trainer Mike Hann. "It's up to us to make those determinations and see that different than a neurologist can."

Sacred Heart has also put into place an evaluation test called the Impact Test and as well as the Standardized Assessment of Concussions or SAC test. With these tests, the trainers can determine the severity of a concussion.

"The Impact [Test] is definitely more in-depth and on the computer so it's more sensitive to reaction time and so forth and gives us a pretty good idea of where somebody is with their recovery from a concussion," said Hann.

Although the risks are real and it is a tragedy that high school athletes suffer from this condition, Sacred Heart is doing what it can to keep its athletes safe and to help reduce the risk of the athletes suffering from Second Impact Syndrome.

With all of these precautions and qualified medical staff in place, parents and friends can rest assured that Sacred Heart's student-athletes are in good hands when they compete in games and events.