Granted, it was the hottest day of the season by far, including all of our two a day camps. It was in the low to mid nineties with very high humidity and it pushed the heat index up over 100. We hadn't seen these kinds of temperatures in northeast Ohio since the third week of July, before football camp started.
We also dealt with our fair share of heat cramps that evening on both of our sidelines that evening. (Which by the way, we played about 10 miles away from where this terrible situation occurred.) Because all of the ED trips were for members of the same team, I highly suspect that there was a group of kids drinking the energy drink that were alluded to in the article. Previous posts on this blog have attempted to demonstrate the dangers of consuming these energy drinks before the intense exercise. One thing is for sure, I will be using this as a "teachable moment" for our kids to learn from.
The article from local news source is referenced here.
Updated (8:54 p.m. 9/4/2011) After doing a little more digging, I found that according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association, there is no athletic trainer currently serving at Conneaut High School. Since the OHSAA is usually very good at updating the information on this directory, I assume this to be the case. If this is true, it would be very hard to blame an athletic trainer if there wasn't one available. This just goes to reinforce the fact that if you cannot afford an athletic trainer, then you cannot afford an athletic program. Of course, many poorly educated individuals are still firing off all kinds of inappropriate comments on various outlets including Fox 8's post on Facebook.
The Second Update (9:32 a.m. 9/5/2011) Since the original article was posted from the local Fox station left a lot to the imagination, the school district released a statement that clears up the situation a bit.
"Five Conneaut athletes and one Warren Champion athlete were transported from Conneaut Stadium via ambulance to neighboring medical facilities during the game on Friday night. All were released on Friday, with the exception of one Conneaut athlete who is expected to be released later this week from a Cleveland hospital. Preliminary findings indicate that two Conneaut athletes and one Warren Champion athlete were suffering from the effects of the oppressive heat and humidity. The remaining athletes, all from Conneaut, incurred injuries as a result of the game itself. These injuries included a bruised rib, a possible concussion, and a knee injury. Shortly into the fourth quarter, after a brief conference between the referees and a mutual agreement between both team's coaches; the game was halted. The decision was made in what was thought to be in the best interests of the athletes. The Conneaut Area City Schools would like to thank all of the emergency responders, the Conneaut and Warren Champion coaching staffs, school administrators, and volunteer parents who aided in the crisis. Cooperation among all involved resulted in a resolution that protected the health and well-being of student-athletes." (From the Conneaut School District)
The explanation that only three of the athletes were heat related does help, but the explanation does add that there was one additional athlete from the visiting team that was transported bringing the total to six. However, the young men with the bruised ribs and the knee injuries would possibly have been screened away from EMS if there was any medical staff there available on the school's sideline. This sounds more like coaches who are trying to be careful in the absence of an athletic trainer on the sidelines. This story should only reinforce the fact the statement I made earlier about being able to afford an athletic program.
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