Heat Safety Pledge

Update: The Mission-KSI Heat Safety Pledge for high schools is well underway! We’ve had over 15 schools qualify, with several more applications in the works. Get your school on the list to get some great cooling products from Mission Athletecare!

Congratulations to Marshwood High School in Maine, which was the first school accepted. We have also accepted schools from Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas.

A little background on the Heat Safety Pledge: Mission Athletecare prides itself on creating the best athletic environment for performance and safety. As part of that goal, they wanted to find a way to reward schools for upholding appropriate policies for heat safety. Mission wants to donate $1 Million of product to schools nationwide who are striving to keep athletes safe.

And this is where KSI comes in. Mission masterminds, with the help of KSI of course, devised the Heat Safety Pledge, 6 pillars aimed at safety while exercising in the heat. We feel that these are the 6 key areas that help high schools athletes perform at their best and stay safer while exercising in the heat.

• Pillar 1: Thermometer– A wet bulb globe thermometer is on site at school and used to determine activity modifications based on environmental conditions. It is school policy to modify work to rest cycles based on environmental conditions.
• Pillar 2: Certification– All coaching staff is certified in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of an automated external defibrillator. Additionally, education is provided related to preventing sudden death in sport.
• Pillar 3: Athletic Trainer– An athletic trainer is employed at your school and is on-site during practices and events.
• Pillar 4: Emergency Action Plan– A specific emergency action plan for each athletic facility has been developed where sports games and practices occur. This plan is reviewed with the healthcare team every year.
• Pillar 5: Heat Acclimatization Guidelines– School has adopted nationwide high school preseason heat acclimatization guidelines set forth by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
• Pillar 6: Water Stations/Body Cooling- Adequate water is available and placed at various stations around the athletic fields for all sports. At water stations, body cooling is standard practice. This can be as simple as encouraging players to remove equipment during rest breaks as using ice/cold towels.

Some of the pillars of the heat safety pledge require little funding, emergency action plans for example; and can be implemented right away! Appropriate heat acclimatization is regulated by some state athletic associations, so if your state meets the KSI heat acclimatization standards, you already satisfy one of the pillars. But even in states without good guidelines, appropriate heat acclimatization procedures cost no money and can prevent heat illness.

On the same note, we’re talking to YOU high school athletic trainers, your employment helps satisfy one pillar as well. What a way to get some much needed supplies for your school! Take a look at the Heat Safety Pledge today to see if your high school qualifies. If you’re unsure, use the KSI Prevention section for more information on common practice standards. Contact Mission for more information on how to apply.

Importance of Coaching Education in High School Athletics

Coaches and athletic trainers in many ways share a common goal, and that is to see their athletes’ succeed both on and off the playing field; however, for this success to happen safely, coaches and athletic trainers must work together. A good working relationship and communication are the first keys to success when it comes to the health of an athlete, whether it be preventing, recognizing, or treating both injuries and illnesses. In a high school setting, athletic trainers may not be able to cover all events, so coaches are in some ways an extra set of eyes and ears that an athletic trainer can utilize, so it is imperative they are up-to-date with the most recent evidence-based guidelines.

One recent guideline that has come through the Connecticut governmental pipeline is the new mandatory concussion education law that began July 1, 2014. This law requires all high schools in the State of Connecticut to educate every one of their student-athletes, parents, and coaches on multiple different aspects of concussion education, including, but not limited to:

• The recognition of signs and symptoms of a concussion
• The nature and risks of a concussion, and continuing play after sustaining a concussion
• Current best practices in the prevention and treatment of a concussion

Another law that has recently been approved as well is the mandatory sudden cardiac arrest awareness education program for high schools. Much like the concussion law, this will mandate education of student-athletes, parents, and coaches on sudden cardiac arrest topics that focus on prevention, recognition, treatment, and return to play.

With these ever-changing guidelines regarding sports safety, it is crucial that coaches remain educated and informed to make sure they are providing the best care for their athletes. With injuries and illnesses being very unpredictable, a coach may end up finding themselves as one of the only first responders during an emergent event. As a coach you must ask yourself; are you prepared? Are you equipped with the knowledge needed to properly manage the situation? Does the team have policy and procedures to properly manage the situation?

1st Youth Sport Safety Governing Bodies Meeting

Last week, the staff of KSI were joined by leaders within youth sport national governing bodies (NGBs) at the National Football League (NFL) Headquarters in New York City holding the first annual Youth Sport Safety Governing Bodies (YSSGB) meeting. The meeting was sponsored by OneBeat CPR + AED, Kestrel, and Mission AthleteCare and hosted by the NFL. The purpose of this two-day meeting was to bring together the top youth sport NGBs together to discuss policies and considerations to make sports safer. Present at this year’s meeting included 9 different NGBs: US Tennis Association, USA Football, US Soccer, US Lacrosse, USA Wrestling, USA Track and Field, USA Hockey, MLB Digital Academy, and the US Olympic Committee. The focus of this year’s meeting was to educate the attendees on different safety considerations: heat illness, sports-related concussions, cardiac conditions, and emergency action planning.

The first day of the meeting (“Kestrel Heat Stress Tracker Day”), focused on Heat Illness Considerations, presented by the KSI COO Dr. Douglas Casa, and Sports-Related Concussions, presented by Dr. Jason Mihalik. Both Dr. Casa’s and Dr. Mihalik’s presentations sparked some great comments and dialogue from all in attendance. Coaching education and certifications were the main topics of interest during Thursday’s conversations; including how the different NGBs have already implemented educational programs and obstacles that were experienced by other NGBs who have yet to instrument one. For example, USA Football shared their structure of educational program where they train and educate ‘Master Trainer” who can subsequently educate their peers in the local area (“Train the Trainer” framework). USA Hockey spoke on their SafeSport program, where coaches are required to complete a set of educational course to receive coaching certificate.

The second day of the meeting (“OneBeat CPR + AED Day”), focused on Cardiac Conditions, presented by Dr. Fred Brennan, and Emergency Action Plans, presented by Dr. Robert Huggins. These presentations also focused on the importance of sports-specific pre-participation exam (PPE) and ways to ensure athlete’s safety from the planning stage (“be proactive, not reactive!”). Dr. Brennan eluted to the importance of a comprehensive and uniform PPE before sports participation. In order to have a good idea of athlete’s health history and assess the athletes’ readiness to safely participate in the athletics, a comprehensive PPE is imperative piece of information that can identify athletes who may be at-risk. Additionally, uniformity in PPEs will allow the athlete’s health history to be shared across sports, which would be beneficial in multi-sport athletes, or for sport tournament and camp hosts who may have had limited access to participant’s medical record traditionally.

The goal of this first annual YSSGB meeting was to integrate top youth sport NGBs together to discuss safety policies and strategies to implement them to ensure youth sport safety. With the raising awareness and societal concerns over sports related safety issues, sports NGBs are continuing to add more emphasis on protecting the health and safety of athletes. The ability to ensure that all athletes, amongst all sports, receive the best and safest environment to participate in their sports will be a goal that we continue to strive for. The ability to bring together these top personnel within their respective organizations to discuss these topics was unheard of and never done before. While each of us is doing our best to get there, we need to now work together to accomplish the goal. We believe that our first meeting allowed the NGBs to establish a ground to continue our discussion to make sports safer.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” 

Lightning Emergency Action Plan

A lot of scenarios in preventing sudden death in sports require annual or semi-annual planning to be adequately prepared. Lightning emergencies, however, require daily vigilance to ensure that everything is being done to prevent catastrophic injury. In 2013 the NATA released a new position statement that covers Lightning preparedness and there are some important items to note from this document.

When it comes to lightning awareness and monitoring, these are daily steps that you need to ensure safety. Gone are the days of the flash-bang count. Now the presumption is that if you can hear thunder, lightning risk is imminent. While you can buy advanced equipment that monitors your fields, the ultimate decision should be based off close weather monitoring and on-site vigilance. It is incredibly important to have these criteria determined before any event, as hesitation can be very costly.

Whenever it is determined that lightning risk is elevated, all activities should be stopped immediately and individuals should be evacuated to safe structures. The key thing to remember with safe structures is that they need to be enclosed and grounded. Common mistakes are using pavilions or dugouts for evacuation structures, when these locations may actually put you more at risk. Finally, for large events you must consider extra time for evacuation of players, coaches and fans if there is not an adequate structure nearby.

First aid for lightning strikes can seem paradoxical, in that the mantra is to “Treat those who appear dead first”. Due to then nature of a lightning injury these individuals need to be treated rapidly to reverse their conditions. After any lightning strike it is extremely important to also rapidly evacuate victims and bystanders alike because there is always potential for a second strike.

Unfortunately there are a lot of myths about lightning that are perpetuated that must be overcome to ensure lightning safety. The ideas that lightning cannot strike when the sky is clear or that lightning does not strike the same place twice creates situations where individuals risk their own safety. In addition, there is no truth to the myths that lightning always strikes from the sky or that a car is a safe structure. Athletic trainers represent a great resource to educate coaches and athletes alike about lightning safety and avoid some hazardous pitfalls.

Lightning safety is a true test as to whether your emergency policies are adequate because they require daily vigilance and excellent procedures to ensure safety. For more information on lightning safety, visit ksi.uconn.edu.

Got EAP?

It’s almost the start of a new school year, which means preparation in all of its forms is underway. As the fall sports season begins, it is important that injury prevention procedures are being put into place to ensure athlete safety. Some schools may already have these procedures implemented, while others are currently working towards them. One might ask, where do I begin? This question can be answered with three simple words: Emergency Action Plan (EAP).

The EAP is possibly the most important component to injury prevention, providing information to ensure that response to an emergency or catastrophic event is rapid, and well controlled. EAP defines responsibilities for everyone involved in the response to an emergency situation, as well as establish standard of care. As the school year begins, I challenge you to review your EAP, make any changes that could possibly enhance athlete safety, or implement them as a means of injury prevention if you have not already done so.

Why the challenge? A well-developed EAP can be the difference between life and death. Without one, your school or institution is at risk of being negligent in an emergency situation. If you’re questioning the EAP you currently have, or need assistance creating one, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association published a position statement on “Emergency Planning in Athletics” in 2002, which provides key points in developing EAPs.

The Korey Stringer Institute has also identified 7 key components to an effective EAP.

1. Emergency Personnel

2. Emergency Communication

3. Emergency Equipment

4. Medical Emergency Transportation

5. Venue Directions with a Map

6. Roles of First Responders

7. Emergency Action Plan for Non-Medical Emergencies

Please refer to the KSI website (http://ksi.uconn.edu/information/athletic-trainers/) for a detailed explanation of each component, as well as a sample EAP that can be used as a template for creating one of your own!

Here’s the true test. If a catastrophic event were to happen at your institution right now, would you be prepared? Do you have the necessary preparation and steps in place to save a life?

Let’s have your school specific EAP ready when you meet with your Athletic Director and coaches at the kickoff meeting for the upcoming school year!