Month: April 2015

KSI Honors Lifesaving Award Winners

The Korey Stringer Institute is proud to announce the winners of the 2015 Lifesaving Awards. In 2012, the Korey Stringer Institute started recognizing three individuals annually who have made significant contributions in the realm of preventing sudden death in sport. These individuals are leaders in their fields when it comes to making important policy changes to prevent sudden death in sport. The three annual awards are the Lifesaving Research Award, Lifesaving Service Award and the Lifesaving Education Award. Each award recognizes excellence in a given aspect of the Korey Stringer Institute’s mission of preventing sudden death in sport.

 

Lifesaving Research Award

This award recognizes exceptional dedication and work in research aimed to improve knowledge regarding preventing sudden death in sport.

Erik SwartzErik Swartz, PhD, ATC, FNATA

Professor and Department Chair, Kinesiology

University of New Hampshire

Erik E Swartz PhD, ATC, FNATA, Professor and Chair, Department of Kinesiology at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Swartz received his PhD in Applied Biomechanics at the University of Toledo. Dr. Swartz’ primary research interest focuses on the prevention and care of head and neck injuries in football. Dr. Swartz has received grants from The NATA Foundation, NOCSAE, NFL Charities, and was recently a named a winner of the NineSigma Head Health Challenge II. He has been published in journals such as The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, Spine, and The American Journal of Sports Medicine. He serves on the NFL Head Neck and Spine Committee’s Subcommittee on Safety Equipment and on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Athletic Training and Athletic Training and Sports Health Care Journal. Dr. Swartz served as chair of the NATA Position Statement on the Acute Management of the Cervical Spine Injured Athlete. In 2011 he was honored with a Fellows designation in the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and in 2015 received the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award, also from the NATA. He and his wife Renee have two children, Evry and Caleb.

 

Lifesaving Service Award

This award recognizes exceptional service aimed to improve policies and advocate for the adoption of policies in order to reduce sudden death in sport.

John JardineJohn Jardine, MD

Chief Medical Advisor & Chairman of the Medical & Science Advisory Board, KSI

Attending Physician, Landmark Medical Center

Medical Director, Falmouth Road Race

John Jardine, MD, is a board certified emergency medicine physician since 2000. His interest in race medicine was piqued when he first volunteered at the Falmouth Road Race in the summer of 2000. Two years later, he was appointed co-medical director of the race and has been directing medical operations since. As co-director, he is involved with the overall coordination of the medical care at the race including the recruitment and training of volunteers, ensuring adequate supplies and equipment are available for medical services, and providing emergency care to the athletes, spectators, and volunteers involved with the race. Through the history of the race, the medical team has developed protocols for the treatment of exertional heat illness. Dr. Jardine has continued to perfect these protocols and has teamed with KSI to continue research to protect athletes worldwide. He has co-authored two research papers,  “The Effectiveness of Cold Water Immersion in the Treatment of Exertional Heat Stroke at the Falmouth Road Race”, and “Relationship Between Aerobic Fitness Parameters, Body Temperature, and Perceptual Responses Following a Warm-Weather Road Race” through his experience with medical care at the race. Dr. Jardine has been involved in medical care at long distance races.  As an invited guest, he has assisted the medical team at the Boston Marathon in the critical care and heat illness treatment areas. Dr. Jardine’s start in medicine was in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) as an EMT and then Paramedic in New York State. After 12 years of practicing prehospital medicine, Dr. Jardine earned his medical degree at Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn, New York. He completed residency in emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University serving as chief resident in his senior year. His background in EMS has provided experience in disaster medicine and mass casualty incidents (MCIs). He worked with the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) to staff field hospitals at mass gatherings. With RI DMAT, Dr. Jardine implemented and staffed a mobile hospital to provide medical support to the offshore Egypt Air Flight 990 recovery mission. As an emergency physician, Dr. Jardine directed the medical care for Operation Helping Hand, Massachusetts Governor Romney’s temporary relocation of the displaced victims of Hurricaine Katrina to Camp Edwards on Cape Cod. The organizational and administrative skills previously experienced with MCIs have been invaluable in coordinating medical care for events involving several thousand athletes.

 

Robert DavisRobert J. Davis, MD

Diplomat, American Board of Emergency Medicine

Medical Director, Emergency Department at Falmouth Hospital

Robert J. Davis, MD, has nearly 20 years of experience as an emergency medicine physician and has been a leader in the development of exertional heat stroke treatment protocol through his 13 years as Co-medical Director of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race, an elite running event held each August in Falmouth, MA. As co-medical director of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race since 2002, Dr. Davis and his team of volunteer medical personnel from the Falmouth Hospital Emergency Department staff three medical tents along the race route. Due to the numbers and severity of exertional heat stroke patients the Falmouth Road Race medical team sees over the course of the 7-mile course, they are trained and experienced in effective treatment methods. The medical team has been providing medical care at the race for the last 40 years, and their development of treatment methods for exertional heat stroke over the years – including immediate immersion in ice baths on the race course – helped establish the treatment protocol still in use today. Over the years, Dr. Davis and his team have used their skills and experience to save many lives and help hundreds of runners recover quickly and resume their normal activities. Dr. Davis is Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Falmouth Hospital in Falmouth, MA, and is also Medical Director of the Urgent Care Department at Stoneman Outpatient Center in Sandwich, MA. He earned his medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine in 1995 and completed an internship and residency at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, RI. He was chief resident at Rhode Island Hospital and assistant clinical instructor of medicine at Brown University School of Medicine from 1998-1999. Dr. Davis is a diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He directs a bi-monthly Morbidity and Mortality Conference on Risk Management in the Falmouth Hospital Emergency Department, and is a consulting expert in emergency medicine. He is on the board of directors of Cape Cod Health Network, a physician-hospital organization, and is also on the board of the Cape Cod Health Network ACO. He also serves on the Quality Committee of the Physicians of Cape Cod, a private physicians group.Dr. Davis has won numerous medical awards, including the Daniel L. Savitt Resident Teaching Award and the Gregory D. Jay Resident Research Award from Rhode Island Hospital in 1999, the Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Performance in Pediatric Emergency Medicine from Hasbro Children’s Hospital in 1999, the Alpha Omega Alpha distinction at Boston University School of Medicine in 1995, and the Falmouth Hospital Trauma Award in 2006.

 

Lifesaving Education Award

This award recognizes exceptional work aimed to improve knowledge and education in the realm of preventing sudden death in sport.

Lisa WalkerLisa Walker, ATC

Athletic Trainer, Springville High School

Lisa Walker, a native of Orange County, Calif., began her athletic training career in 1993 when she graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She has worked as the head athletic trainer at Springville (Utah) High School ever since. Lisa has held numerous positions within the Utah Athletic Trainers’ Association, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers’ Association, and the National Athletic Trainers Association. She has provided service with the Red Cross of America, the Australia Down Under Bowl (American football) in 2000 and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, as well as other local events and organizations. Lisa was the secretary/treasurer of the Utah Athletic Trainers’ Association from 1998-2002, president of the UATA from 2002-2007, president of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainer’s Association from 2007-2012, and she continues to serve on the UATA board of directors, the Sports Medicine Advisory Council of the Utah High School Activities Association, the NATA Secondary Schools Committee and Honors and Awards Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee to prevent sudden death in secondary school athletes. During her time with the UATA, she helped produce “Advocates of the Student Athlete,” an NATA award-winning video in 2000. She was instrumental in passing a law mandating licensure for all athletic trainers in the state of Utah and helped champion concussion legislation. She helped athletic trainers gain recognition as official healthcare providers, passed mandatory heat acclimatization for all athletes, pre-participation exams and concussion policies with the Utah High School Activities Association, as well as mandatory CPR and first aid certification for all Utah coaches and a thorough weight management system for all high school wrestlers. Lisa was named to the RMATA Hall of Fame in 2014, the public advocacy award winner by the Board of Certification in 2013, NATA Athletic Trainer Service Award in 2013, NATA Governmental Affairs award in 2006 and several other honors within the UATA, RMATA and other local organizations. Lisa resides in Provo, Utah, where she continues her work as a high school teacher and athletic trainer and serves as a clinical instructor for athletic training students at Brigham Young University while championing for athletic training reform with the Utah state legislature. Lisa continues to promote safety for the physically active of all ages. Her and her husband, David, are the parents of three children.

Texas House Advances Bill Mandating EKGs for High School Athletes (Education Week)

The Texas House of Representatives approved a bill last week that would require high school athletes to undergo an electrocardiogram, or an EKG, before participating on a sports team.

The bill, which passed the House on an 82-62 vote on April 14, would require all high school student-athletes at University Interscholastic League schools to have an EKG before the student’s first year of participation in sports, and again before his or her third year. If a parent or guardian submits a written request to waive the requirement, however, a student-athlete would not be required to undergo the EKG.

According to a 2011 study published in the journal Circulation, sudden cardiac arrest was the leading cause of death during exercise in NCAA student-athletes, and similar data has held true for younger athletes, too. State Rep. Sylvester Turner, one of the bill’s joint authors, believes mandating EKGs could help prevent some instances of sudden cardiac arrest by uncovering undiagnosed conditions.

“These deaths are preventable and we have the resources to inform Texas parents if their child is at risk,” said Turner in a statement. “The legislation does not require parents to take any medical action in response to an ECG. Regardless of the information the ECG provides, any medical decisions regarding the student athlete remain at the parent’s discretion.”

The legislation was inspired in part by Scott Stephens, who lost his son Cody to sudden cardiac arrest in May 2012. Since that time, Stephens started the Cody Stephens Go Big or Go Home Memorial Foundation, which helped screen over 15,000 athletes last year, according to The Dallas Morning News. Fifteen of those youth-athletes wound up needing heart surgery, and two were told to quit contact sports, the paper reported.

“We found 17 kids out of 15,000,” Stephens told the paper. “If there’s a million kids in the state of Texas getting a physical, that tells me—just by the math—that there’s 1,000 kids out there that are possible candidates for sudden cardiac arrest.”

If signed into law, the Texas bill would go into effect beginning with the 2016-17 school year. It has since been sent to the Senate for further discussion.

Sudden cardiac arrest has been a hot topic in youth-athlete safety for years. In 2011, a 16-year-old Michigan high school basketball player named Wes Leonard collapsed on the court after hitting a buzzer-beating shot due to an enlarged heart. After being rushed to the hospital and undergoing CPR, he was pronounced dead due to sudden cardiac arrest. His friends and family later createdThe Wes Leonard Heart Team to advocate for student-athlete-safety legislation, including a requirement that all public and private schools have enough automatic electronic defibrillators on site.

That same year, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association released a statement urging states to pass pending youth-athlete-safety legislation, despite any potential budgetary concerns. At its third annual Youth Sports Safety Summit in December 2011, association members discussed ways to prevent sudden death in youth sports.

“We believe that 90 to 95 percent of the deaths that happen in youth sports are preventable,” said Dr. Douglas Casa, the chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, during that year’s summit.

In November 2011, a survey presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific sessions revealed that fewer than 6 percent of doctors in the state followed national sudden-cardiac-death screening guidelines to their fullest extent when examining high school athletes. Not a single athletic director said that his or her school required doctors to comply with all state guidelines at the time, either.

In the spring of 2012, meanwhile, then-Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law designed to protect student-athletes from heart failure. It required schools to issue an information sheet to parents of student-athletes about the warning signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest, which they needed to sign and return to the school before their children were allowed to participate in athletics.

This past March, Dr. Brian Hainline, the NCAA’s first chief medical officer, divulged to The Wall Street Journal his plan to recommend “that athletes at higher risk of cardiac death, including male basketball players, be required to undergo an EKG test to search for cardiac defects,” according to the paper. However, “some 100 university team physicians” signed a petition “calling on him to change his mind,” the WSJ reported one month later, which he wound up doing.

“I have become convinced that the infrastructure and knowledge base will not support this effort at present,” Hainline announced at a conference in mid-April, per the paper.

The issue clearly remains contentious among medical experts, and the Texas House had its fair share of members opposed to the bill, too. We’ll see over the coming weeks whether Texas state senators express the same concerns.

 

Source: Education Week

Senator Durbin Introduces Bill To Strengthen Youth Sports Concussion Safety (Dick Durbin Press Release)

Legislation Would Strengthen Procedures For Preventing, Detecting, And Treating Concussions In K-12 Athletes

Endorsed by the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, & NCAA

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced the Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act,legislation that would strengthen K-12 schools’ procedures for preventing, detecting, and treating student-athletes who suffer concussions while competing.  The National Federation of State High School Associations estimates that about 140,000 students playing high school sports suffer concussions every year though many go unreported. The National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have endorsed the bill.

“It used to be called just getting your bell rung, but we now know that a concussion is something that should never be taken lightly,” Durbin said. “Research has shown the serious long-term health risks associated with concussions in youth sports. I’m glad to say that Illinois has been a leader on this issue, but it’s time for all states to play under the same rules. My bill sets, for the first time, minimum state requirements for the prevention and treatment of concussions. These common sense safety requirements will help effectively address head injuries in our youth. We must ensure students, parents, and coaches have the information they need to effectively evaluate these types of injuries.”

Additional organizations endorsing Durbin’s Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act include: the American Academy of Neurology, American College of Sports Medicine, Illinois High School Association, Korey Stringer Institute, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Sports Fitness and Industry Association, and the National Council of Youth Sports.

The bill also institutes a “when in doubt, sit out” policy that requires students suspected of sustaining a concussion to end their participation in the athletic event for the remainder of the day.  Such a policy was recommended by a panel of team physicians convened by the American College of Sports Medicine in 2011.  Additionally, the American Academy of Neurology’s evidenced-based guideline on sports concussion, published in 2013, agrees with the “sit it out” policy and represents the latest literature on sports concussion.  The bill asks schools to notify a student’s parents of an injury and obtain a written release from a health care professional before the student may return to play.

Durbin’s legislation would raise awareness of the danger of concussions among student athletes by directing states to develop concussion safety guidelines for public school districts. Those guidelines include posting educational information on school grounds and school websites about concussion symptoms and risks and recommended responses for student athletes, parents, coaches and school officials.

Durbin’s legislation builds on a comprehensive plan implemented by the Illinois High School Athletic Association, which governs interscholastic high school sports in the state.  Illinois law requires school districts to educate students, families, and coaches about the nature and risk of concussions and requires student athletes to abstain from sports until they receive a medical evaluation and a letter of clearance from a licensed healthcare professional saying they can return.  Unfortunately, many states lack such a plan or have implemented policies that do not adequately identify and protect children who sustain a concussion.

All states would have five years from the bill’s enactment to issue guidance to schools about concussion plans.  A state that fails to do so within that timeframe will forfeit 5% of its federal formula funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the first year with an additional 5% forfeited the second year of noncompliance.

 

Source: Senator Dick Durbin’s Website

Does your teen have an undiagnosed heart condition? (WJXT)

Jacksonville, Fla.- Neigere Poyser is a 16-year-old Ribault High School who loves to play football.  He’s young, muscular, looks like a typical healthy high school athlete. Even though he said he would feel his heart race before being tackled on the football field, he never told anyone. Until he attended a program last summer through the Jacksonville Sports Medicine Program that offers physicals to local student athletes

“One of the questions we asked is do you ever have a fast heart beat while exercising?   remembers Dr. Randall Bryant, a pediatric cardiologist with Wolfson Children’s Hospital.  “He said his heart races playing football, right before he gets hit.  So we did an electrocardiogram and it was significantly abnormal, he had a procedure that fixed the problem,” explained Dr. Bryant who added the condition put him at risk of sudden cardiac death, which could have killed him.

There are certain symptoms of cardiac arrest in athletes, according to Dr. Bryant:

* heart palpitations, or a feeling like your heart is beating very fast

* chest pains

* excessive fatigue, you’re more tired than the other players on the field/court

*passing out or feeling like you’re about to pass out

If you experience any of these, the first episode can be your last.  You need to see your primary care physician who can figure out if you need to be referred to a cardiac specialist.

“We are not trying to limit these athletes,” said Dr. Bryant who explained many student athletes ignore symptoms because they’re worried they won’t be able to play.   “1 out of 350 students has some type of heart disease,” he said and there are times when a child has no family history, they are the first patient, not their parents.

Does your school or recreational league have “the plan”?

According to the American Heart Association, 70% of Americans would panic in an emergency situation.  It’s important that your child’s school and recreational league have an Automated External Defibrillator, AED, and a plan in place should a student collapse.  Bob Sefcik with the Jacksonville Sports Medicine Program suggests parents ask their child’s school if they have a certified athletic trainer who attends athletic events and if everyone on campus knows what to do if there is an emergency?

Symposium this weekend:

There is a symposium Friday and Saturday afternoon which will focus on preventing sudden death in sports.  3 nationally recognized presenters will speak.  Ron Courson, is the head athletic trainer at the University of Georgia, Johna Register- Mihalik with the University of North Carolina and Douglas Casa with the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut.  They will be speaking about spine injuries, emergency plans, concussions and heat illnesses.  Courson and Register- Mihalik will speak Friday April 17th, Casa will take the podium Saturday morning at Jacksonville University.

The symposium is open to anyone in the medical community, including physical therapists and athletic trainers, school administrators are also encouraged to attend.

Source: WJXT

Database for Catastrophic, Fatal, and Near-fatal Athletic Injuries

#ReportSportInjury

By Rebecca Stearns, Vice President of Operations and Education

In the midst of a summer that revealed a consistent rate of sudden deaths in athletes, a new mandate affecting all college athletes from the NCAA was announced. The NCAA revealed that as of August 2014 all member schools are required to report any catastrophic injuries incurred by their student-athletes.

This is in support of a new comprehensive and accurate reporting structure to capture such instances. The need for accurate injury incidence information has come from the crucial role this information plays to guide policies for health and safety in sport.

Previously the NCAA has depended on outside researchers such as the University of North Carolina’s National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research database (NCCSIR). The NCAA and the NCCSIR has partnered to enhance this reporting system. The NCCSIR now includes three divisions:

  • The University of North Carolina, which oversees traumatic injuries including head, neck and spine injuries
  • The University of Connecticut, which oversees exertional injuries including heat-related injuries, asthma and sickle cell trait
  • The University of Washington, which oversees cardiac injuries

NCCSIR has provided an online reporting system to expedite and streamline reporting. This system also includes reporting that is available for all organized sport levels (not just collegiate sports). This can be found at: sportinjuryreport.orgWe highly encourage any bystanders or witnesses to report cases of fatal or near-fatal incidences (that have occurred in the last year or that occur in the future) to enhance this database.

The hope with all of these new reporting systems is that such information can help to support health and safety initiatives targeting the causes of sudden death in sport and shed light on new preventative measures that can be taken.

As the NCAA chief medical officer Dr. Brian Hainline recently said in an interview regarding a push to mandate screening athletes at higher risk of cardiac death, “Concussions have overshadowed everything. Why aren’t we talking about death?

We ask that you join the NCAA and the NCCSIR, and help spread the word to report catastrophic injury cases in order to help us push for continued health and safety initiatives that will ultimately save our athlete’s lives.

Pledge your support on social media by using the hashtag #ReportSportInjury

Bishop Lynch High School Athletic Trainer Talks about AEDs

Written by Mike Hopper, ATC, Head Athletic Trainer at Bishop Lynch High School, Dallas, TX

AED Mike Hopper

Bishop Lynch High School is a co-educational Catholic high school that is a member of the Diocese of Dallas and a member of the Texas Association of Parochial and Private Schools (TAPPS). Bishop Lynch is a “Safe Sports School” as recognized by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. The availability of AEDs on our campus is just one example of Bishop Lynch providing excellence in Athletic Healthcare.

Recently, the question was asked on Twitter by the Korey Stringer Institute “Are you prepared for sudden cardiac arrest? Where is the closest AED from where you are right now?” I took a quick picture on my phone of the unit that is permanently posted on the wall just inside of my Athletic Training Room. That is only one unit that currently sits within those 4 walls. Regularly, there are 3 units that are maintained within that facility, however currently we have 5 units there. Two of these units will be deployed elsewhere on campus in the coming months. KSI was understandably amazed and curious how we had 5 AEDs on our campus. But, we actually have 11 of these units posted throughout our 22-acre campus. So, then the question was: How did Bishop Lynch manage to have that many units on our campus and how can other schools learn from us?

Twitter AED KSI

Twitter AED Mike

I don’t know the full story, but I will say that we are dedicated to having these units within reach and we are dedicated to having a plan to attack sudden cardiac arrest with immediate response and treatment. When I came to BL in August 2014, we had 7 units on campus. Six of these were posted within athletic facilities. The seventh unit has been moved more than once this school year. BL is in midst of major renovations and that unit has floated multiple times before finding its current place. That location has become its new permanent home as this winter we acquired additional units for elsewhere in the building.

There are currently 9 AEDs deployed on our campus. We have units in our end-zone weight room building that serves the weight room and wrestling room in that building plus the baseball field a short distance away. Conceivably this unit also covers the track and football stadium. The fieldhouse in the corner of the same endzone hosts a unit on the wall providing coverage for the football stadium and track. Outside of the “competition gym” a unit is posted in plain sight that provides coverage for the main gym, the dance studio across the hall, and the weight room upstairs in that same building. Upstairs and a short distance away we have a brand new unit that was recently installed near the business office and two classrooms. Our “Legacy Gym” sits just feet away from the new “competition gym” and hosts a unit of its own posted on the wall outside our satellite Athletic Training Room. As we begin to enter the academic end of campus, we have a unit (previously mentioned) that sits outside of the theater. This is also located close to the main office and the cafeteria. Another brand new unit was deployed recently and is now posted on the wall right outside of the nurse’s office. This gives us 7 units posted in permanent locations.

Two more units are located inside of the Fieldhouse Athletic Training Room and these units are portable. This allows the Athletic Training Staff to transport the AEDs to the sideline or dugout of games. Our softball team currently plays off-campus and we are able to take a unit to their games without jeopardizing the safety (and liability) of our campusWe also take an AED with us whenever we travel with our football teams. With approximately 150 people that make up our travel party for a varsity football game, we believe that carrying this unit is necessary at all times.

I currently have two more units sitting in my office that are brand new and still inside of their boxes along with their cabinets. These units are awaiting the completion of new construction. One unit will be installed in the coming weeks as we prepare to open up a new building with 12 classrooms and the last unit will be installed before the 2015-2016 school year when that phase of renovations is completed.

I know that in our athletic facilities we are less than a minute from an AED at all times. There is not a single place that somebody can’t have an AED in hand instantly. The furthest point from an athletic standpoint from an AED is centerfield on the baseball field to the Haggar Building AED in the endzone. That is approximately 500 feet away. But on a game-day, there is a unit in the home dugout cutting that distance down by about 100-150 feet. Academically, we are currently a little bit further away than that in a couple of locations, however that will change in a couple of weeks. Our new unit will cut down that distance significantly. My biggest concern is in our parking lots, which are at the far ends of our campus. Just the other day I brought up this concern to our security staff and we will be addressing this.

Great, so you have 11 AEDs on campus? But do you have staff to use them?

This is a great question. While the AEDs are simple enough to be used by just about anybodyit is still critical that trained personnel respond to a sudden cardiac event. Accordingly, and as required by TAPPS, our entire coaching staff is required to maintain current CPR/AED certification. Additionally, we have a school nurse on campus each day along with one full-time Certified Athletic Trainer and one part-time Certified Athletic Trainer. Our security staff also is required to maintain CPR/AED certification. So in short, we have staff onsite at all times trained to respond to a cardiac event.

How do you maintain 11 AEDs? Who is in charge of that and who pays for that?

This is another great question. And one that we recently figured out. We have three units that are 4 years old, four units that are 3 years old and four units that are brand new. In the past, the replacement pads were simply purchased out of an account and nobody really thought about it too much. But as you can imagine, with 11 units, this is a costly venture. And so the school nurse and I have asked for a specific answer moving forward. We did not want this to be a year-by-year decision. Basically, each year we will spend the equivalent to what it would cost to purchase a new unit every yearBut it’s a small price to pay and our school administration agrees with thisFor this reason, the nurse’s budget will grow each year to accommodate this specific expense. We share joint responsibility for proposing those needs each year and I have taken on the responsibility of maintaining the units. This includes walking past them throughout the week along with testing them once a month. I have made up a spreadsheet with our entire inventory that includes expiration dates and also have a checklist in each case that I check off each month.

11 AEDs, a full staff of trained personnel, emergency action plans for athletics and campus-wide, combined with EMS being located only minutes away and the major trauma center less than 15 minutes away, we believe that Bishop Lynch is well-prepared for a sudden cardiac event on our campus. While we hope to “waste” a lot of money over time, we believe it’s a small price to pay should somebody on our campus collapse.

Every Athlete Deserves an Athletic Trainer. Every Friar Athlete Has One.