Concern About Players' Health and The Direction of This Game We Love

[BurkFan]

Greetings all! I feel compelled to write in this thread as a bit of "therapy" for myself and my household. Please understand that under no circumstances do I want to take away from the fine teams in the playoffs at this point or detract from any games played or yet to be played...or any game ever played in this state that loves its high school football. I am a relatively new member to this board and have only a fraction of the knowledge other members of this board have. If this post is out of line, please forgive me and I will ask that the moderators remove it promptly.

If I may I would like to give you all some background of the circumstances of which I am addressing. Last night during the China Spring vs. Burkburnett game, following a kickoff return, one of the Burkburnett players, #13 Ronnie Hall, walked off the field after making the return. The game was tied at that point 3-3. Ronnie came off the field, took off his helmet and went to the point at the players’ bench on the Aledo Bearcat field where the drains are and began to vomit. Ronnie had suffered a concussion three weeks ago at the Burkburnett vs. Iowa Park game. The parents in the stands saw this whole episode transpire right in front of us. All of the Burk players saw what was happening to Ronnie. The trainers, Bless their hearts, came over to tend to Ronnie as he continued. Then Ronnie's head began to bob to the side and he looked as though he was trying to lay his head on the trainer's shoulder. These three young ladies continued to do what they could to keep him awake and alert, as I am sure they are trained to do. Burk players began to circle around Ronnie and give him words of encouragement, yet the helplessness on their faces was apparent...one of their own was hurt and hurt badly. Parents began stirring in the stands as we had a direct view as to the activities. As parents, we felt utterly helpless. One parent got a blanket from the stands and was screaming at the trainers to come get it to keep him warm. Another parent headed to the west end of the stadium to get the attention of the EMTs. The EMT's walked from their position down the north side of the field to where the player was sitting. At this point, cheerleaders, parents, everyone on the sideline was concerned about what was going on. The head coach for Burkburnett, Bill Dalke, at this point pulled his attention away from the game briefly to walk back to where Ronnie was and stood there for perhaps 10 seconds and looked at what the commotion was about. He spoke to no one, and turned around and went back to the game. At this point Ronnie’s dad jumped out of the stands to see what was going on. Almost simultaneously, one of the EMT's began a run back to the ambulance. He emerged a few minutes later with some additional help and pulling a rolling gurney and stretcher. Why did he not bring the entire ambulance with him? I don’t know if it is rumor, speculation, or truth but we later heard they could not get the ambulance to where he was. I do not know why this is? The EMTs and medical personnel cut off Ronnie’s jersey and removed his pads. They placed him on the gurney and wheeled him away to the west end of the field...all of this occurred in full view of the Burk players and fans. Our players were very upset by what they saw. We watched from the North bleachers as there appeared in the southwest corner, behind the China Spring bleachers, what appeared to be many ambulances or fire trucks or some type of emergency vehicles appear off in the distance. Suddenly, a helicopter hovered over the southwest portion of the stadium area and land. Ronnie was being medically evacuated by an air ambulance! We watched as the Burk players on defense saw the helicopter circle and land. One of our players turned around with arms outstretched on the field towards the coaches as if to say "WHAT IS GOING ON?"

We later learned that Ronnie was air evacuated to John Petersmith hospital in Fort Worth. He had bleeding on the brain and was in intensive care. As of this morning, he is awake and will be moved out of ICU as the blood in his brain cavity is slowly resolving.

Last night, when I posted this information, this board responded quickly to get Ronnie, his parents, the school, and our community into your prayers...and for that we as parents, fans, and community are grateful to you all. What a Blessing this state is! What a Blessing you all are. We will never forget that! I will continue to update you all as to Ronnie's recovery.

As quickly as you responded with prayers and well wishes, I ask you for another favor. And this one is more difficult. When a game is in progress, we are fans...when an athlete is down, we become parents first and foremost...citizens of humanity. We come together and that is what is important.

I do not know what hindered that ambulance last night...I do not know what hindered coaches...I do not know what hindered officials. But I can guarantee no one from Burkburnett ever wants to have that feeling of helplessness like we felt last night...players or fans. When a situation warrants an air evacuation, that is serious! There should be no hindrance to anything. That game should have been stopped to tend to that young man...period!

If you feel like this as well, I ask that you write letters to the UIL, to your local papers, to your coaches, to your booster clubs...whomever will listen I ask that you communicate this. No parent should ever have to go through what Ronnie Hall's parents had to go through. I am upset with coaches who showed only brief interest and did not contact the referee to hold up the game...to even call a timeout to settle down the situation. There were players who were freaked out. Even though the player was not on the field, he is a player. His injury warranted as much attention as any injury you could possibly have in football. We never even took a knee for this young man.

I am including a link to the local paper's “Letter to the Editor” section here as well. Feel free to tell them how upsetting this is to you if you feel inclined. We, as parents, are upset. I can only imagine that others are as upset as my household is. Please I pray that no other parent has to endure this. It should be clearly expressed in UIL rules that if any player has a serious injury, whether on the playing surface or in any area of the playing field, including the team area, a referee needs to be contacted immediately and all play stopped. The rule is written now in NCAA rules that UIL has adopted, but I ask that we strengthen the ruling.

Thank you all for being the wonderful people you are! God Bless you all...Happy Holidays and good luck to all teams!

Please continue to pray for Ronnie and his family.

Links:

Link to Wichita Falls Times Record News: http://web.timesrecordnews.com/opinions2/lte_forms/letters2.html

Burkburnett Newspaper: Burkburnett Informer-Star: 417 Avenue C, Burkburnett, TX 76354

UIL (University Interscholastic League): Athletic Director

Director: Charles Breithaupt
Department e-mail: uilath@uts.cc.utexas.edu
Department fax: 512-471-6589

[pirate4state]

wow that's scary. :( I'm glad he is out of ICU & will pray for a speedy and full recovery.

I'm not sure what the "answer" is for the non action, but you have the right idea. It needs to be expressed to the UIL, papers and maybe even a conversation (one-on-one) with the head coach.

[Panther One]

When referring to your three trainers as "young ladies" are you implying that they are high school students? Does Burkburnett have a full-time, certified athletic trainer? When I played in high school, we had a full-time trainer and a doctor on the sidelines of every game. Liberty Hill has the same at all of our games. I think more important than stopping the game is having the right personnel on the sidelines to immediately tend to the player and set everything into motion sooner. A certified doctor or trainer would have gotten him to the ambulance immediately and the sideline spectacle would have been avoided. It also sounds like he was cleared to play before he was ready, but that's an entirely different issue.

I'm just curious at what point you feel the game should be stopped? From the moment he's showing symptoms on the sidelines to the time he's airlifted or just during the helicopters arrival and departure? If the proper personnel is present to treat the injured athlete, I would only think it necessary to stop the game and inform both coaches that airlift will be arriving, give them time to inform their teams, then resume playing. Then if the helicopter will be landing near the stadium, another stoppage might be in order.

I believe one reason play resumes once an injured player is off the field is to direct attention away from that player and let the medical personnel do their jobs without the entire stadium taking interest. If it were my son injured, I'd want play to resume, as long as proper attention was being paid to my son. In my opinion, that seems to be the bigger issue here; not having qualified personnel present on the sidelines to attend to the player immediately. That would be my primary course of action. Stopping the game seems like a secondary issue that doesn't really impact the health of the player at all. If the concern is about players' health, I suggest you focus your efforts on getting a doctor on the sidelines at every Burkburnett game.

[VAMike]

It is terrible whenever we hear of a young person who is seriously injured doing what should be a fun recreational activity. BUt football is one of those activities than anyone connected with realizes how quickly it can turn from fun to tragedy. That is the nature of the game.

I do not dispute for a moment that trained adults need to be in close proximity and need to take charge whenever there is a potentially serious medical condition unfolding. I also do not dispute that the game stops if it in anyway interferes with the treatment of the injury.

But if it is determined the child's treatment is not hampered by the game continuing then why not do so? Surely you are not sayng that as long as the child is in the complex, the game does not restart? And who makes the determination about what should be a stopper and what shouldn't? If it is a broken appendage and all that can be done is being done, what harm does it do to continue the game? There are so many potential injuries that could occur, it would be near impossible to decide which ones should stop the game and which ones shouldn't.

If the ambulance could not be taken to the child because it would have "interfered" then that IS an issue. The game should have been stopped to permit the ambulance access. But it is not clear that was the issue.

I hope and pray the child recovers from this injury. A thorough review of what transpired is warranted and if there were mistakes or issues then fixes should be developed after thorough consideration of the options.

[Maroon87]

BurkFan that is a scary tale...we had one kinda like that in Week 0 when our FB/LB Zach Wyatt was on the training table hooked up to IVs for the whole second half due to dehydration but it was nothing like that.

:eek:

One of my HS teammates was Jeff Walker (ex-LH OC, current Rogers HC) and I clearly remember having the locker next to him at Alamo Stadum in SA (aka The Rockpile) and talking to him after our regional semi loss to New Braunfels in '85 and him not remembering the entire 2nd half due to a concussion suffered in the first half.

Dude had 135 yds rushing and didn't remember half of it...:eek:

It's a scary deal, but unfortunately it comes with the territory...the schools (and UIL) just need to be equipped for the fallout. The defibrillators are a great measure but there's only so much they can reasonably do...

[BurkFan]

Originally posted by Panther One
When referring to your three trainers as "young ladies" are you implying that they are high school students? Does Burkburnett have a full-time, certified athletic trainer? When I played in high school, we had a full-time trainer and a doctor on the sidelines of every game. Liberty Hill has the same at all of our games. I think more important than stopping the game is having the right personnel on the sidelines to immediately tend to the player and set everything into motion sooner. A certified doctor or trainer would have gotten him to the ambulance immediately and the sideline spectacle would have been avoided. It also sounds like he was cleared to play before he was ready, but that's an entirely different issue.

I'm just curious at what point you feel the game should be stopped? From the moment he's showing symptoms on the sidelines to the time he's airlifted or just during the helicopters arrival and departure? If the proper personnel is present to treat the injured athlete, I would only think it necessary to stop the game and inform both coaches that airlift will be arriving, give them time to inform their teams, then resume playing. Then if the helicopter will be landing near the stadium, another stoppage might be in order.

I believe one reason play resumes once an injured player is off the field is to direct attention away from that player and let the medical personnel do their jobs without the entire stadium taking interest. If it were my son injured, I'd want play to resume, as long as proper attention was being paid to my son. In my opinion, that seems to be the bigger issue here; not having qualified personnel present on the sidelines to attend to the player immediately. That would be my primary course of action. Stopping the game seems like a secondary issue that doesn't really impact the health of the player at all. If the concern is about players' health, I suggest you focus your efforts on getting a doctor on the sidelines at every Burkburnett game.

Oh I agree Panther One. There is a certified trainer on the Burk sideline. But from what I am gathering, the ambulance could not get in to get the young man. Nor could anyone get the EMT's attention because he was not on the playing surface. No one informed anyone about anything as far as we could tell. The certified trainer was busy doing what she could for the player. She could not inform anyone or really do anything other than what she was doing. There was a breakdown in some system here...stoppage of play was not really my point at all. It was the systemic breakdown somewhere. 20-30 minutes from the time off field from the incident to the time to the air ambulance with thousands of people in the stands is too long. If a stoppage of play would have expedited that, that was my point.

[swstangs001]

wait so when did he start bleeding in his head? was it 3 weeks ago when he got the concussion or during thisgame?

[BurkFan]

During this game.

[ivchris]

More prayers on the way to Ronnie Hall and his family, including his football family. Read the other post last night and having a son with several concussions, this really hits close to home.

[Maroon87]

I forgot to add...prayers to Ronnie and his family.:)

[WylieBulldog92]

Originally posted by ivchris
More prayers on the way to Ronnie Hall and his family, including his football family. Read the other post last night and having a son with several concussions, this really hits close to home.
I was kinda scared for number 12 from Seminole last night he was walking towards our sidelines at the end of the first half and I could swear he had a concussion and they stuck him right back in the second half it scared me...

[957tiger]

Injuries that manifest after the insult are difficult to monitor. It is important to understand head injuries and the signs and symptoms associated with blunt head trauma. What has been previously described was accurate and consistent with a concussion or worse. While this player may have felt okay just after the original injury, and may have had a neurological work-up, there still is the possiblity of aggravating the injuried area of the brain by even a simple sneeze. I am involved in EMS and have stood-by at hundreds of games, both on duty and a fan in the stands. Did the trainers react quickly enough? it sounds like they functioned within their scope of training. Did EMS respond correctly?, again by not being there I can only base my opinion on what should be done.

There are some strict rules regarding EMS involvement with on field injuries. Unless called by the training, or coaching staff EMS cannot enter the field of play. Attending to an injuried player on the sideline is acceptable and expected if needed. The UIL manadates that an emergency ambulance and qualified crew must be in attendance at every football game. Injuries resulting from a contact sport are much like those seen in motor vehicle accidents and should be treated like one. It seems that the local EMS reacted correctly after evaluating the patient and requesting air transportation to a trauma center. As far as driving the ambulance onto the field or track, I would have used the stretcher to move the patient to the ambulance, it's faster and safer. And I believe it allows the medics to assess and treat the patient in the ambulance without the distractions. My prayers go out to the family and those affected by this unfortunate incident

[OldBison75]

This is a very scary situation and does deserve some review of stadium procedures to make sure that timely and trained medical personnel are notified immediately when needed. I know that our stadium policy, in general, is the ambulance does not enter the stadium but the paramedics will respond with a stretcher. I will also note that at our stadium, school officials and law enforcement with radio communications is at each sideline and with EMS and trained fire crews. If the trainer requsts medical assistance, the word is relayed by radio immediately and the proper trained personnel are on the sidelines, or field immediately.

In this case, it appears that your description says that the trainers were so concerned with the health of the player, the medics were delayed in being notified of the situation. That is where a stadium staff or security person should have stepped in and asked if an ambulance was needed. I am very disappointed to hear the coach was apparently not very concerned about the situation and went back to the game. I don't know what he was told by his trainers, but having knowlege of the previous concussion, he should have been very concerned for the well-being of the player.

As for stopping the game, anytime a player is leaving the field or sidelines under medical care of the outside medical staff, the game should be stopped out of respect for the player, the fans, and teammates. These are kids that need to be informed of the seriousness of the situation and given the opportunity to regain their focus, or say a prayer if they wish. I can't imagine that this group of fans and players were not given a moment to give respect to the situation. The game is stopped for an injury in the palying field and the injured player being removed from the stadium under emergency circumstances should have the same response.

These kids went from playing a very important GAME to seeing a sick friend and teammate and not knowing how serious the situation was, to see him rushed from the field and into a helicopter and did not even have time to know hat was going on. I know from years in the emergency services field, the perception of the general population is that if a helicopter is called for transport, the situation is critical. These high school kids did not know at that time if their teammate was gonna recover or not and had to try to focus on the game while being scared for the fellow student and friend.

I agree with notification of the UIL and hope that this type incident will be addressed with requirements for emergency personnel and communications at all sporting events.

As I said last night, our deepest prayers from the Navasota Rattler community and we hope for a speedy, complete recovery. Please let your fans and students know that our hearts go out to you too. The fear of the unknown is a very heart wrenching thing and even though we were not there and not intimately involved, we are fans too and would hope that all in this sport would be as confused and worried as you fans are.

[STANG RED]

This is a scarey deal indeed. My prayers and best wishes go out to the young man, his family, and the entire community.

I watched a special on tv not too long ago that addressed head injuries, and the lack of understanding in general about the long term effects of them. An ex NFL player (cant remember his name), that suffered numerous concussions during his career is the main spokesman for the organization that is trying to bring this problem to the forfront. Unfortunatley they have incurred lots of resistance from the NFL, NCAA, and others in there attempts to educate trainers, and coaches about an extremely misunderstood injury that can have dramatic and sever long term effects.
They have even done studies on ex football players, boxers, and other athletes that have incurred concussions (sometimes mulitple times), and have found that many neurological problems are present in those patients many years down the road.
Hopefully someday this problem will be taken a lot more seriously by the powers that be, and maybe better treatment and precautionary measures can be developed.

[ProudHornetMom]

Please add my prayers as well. I'm thankful the player is improving.

[wtfootball]

Prayers are coming that young man's way. Many of us are on board with your concerns. I have been associated with football programs in South, North and West Texas and have seen a couple of similar incidents (bad injuries) but nothing as bad as this. For the game not to have been stopped is unbelievable. I would think all it would take is the coach to bring this to the attention of the official and it would have been handled. This is a crying shame, my prayers will be going to that young man tonight. May God look down on him and pour blessings upon him. We will all keep him in our prayers and while we understand HIPPA would be interested in his recovery. Hope he is back at home soon.

[slingshot]

Our prayers and well wishes go out to the player and his family... after reading this and the other thread, it seems to me as a sideline doctor (and football Dad) that this was a very unfortunate and stressfull situation--however, a couple of observations if I may. First--It seems to me from your description that the EMS personnel reacted appropriately. They do not come on the field or to the sidelines unless requested to do so... maybe there was a delay in requesting their help? I would suggest that as soon as the trainer evaluated the situation (assuming you have no sideline or team doctor on site? We usually have 1-3) and determined the potential seriousness of it that EMS help should of been summoned. Secondly, the coach, unless instructed to do so by the trainer (or doctor if in attendance), is unlikely to ask the officals to stop the game--again poor communication. Lastly--if indeed your team does not have a team physician on the sideline, I would strongly recommend that the training staff always meet and greet the opposing teams training staff before the games start. On several occasions over the past few years (most recently 3 weeks ago) we have played teams that did not have team docs on the sideline and have volunteered our services if they were needed--fortunately they usually were not--but we have cared for injured players on opposing teams as our own...

[ssgmp5150]

First off, my thoughts and prayers are with this young man to include his family, friends and teammates.

After reading this, I would think that the responsibility/liability would be with the coach that chose to ignore the situation, knowing he had previously sufferred a concussion and failing to take appropriate action on the sidelines that night given the obvious signs and symptoms!

I understand that the trainers were doing everything they could and were pre-occupied with treating the young man verses trying to get someone's attention to summon help.

The medical staff are available (if summoned), but are not required to be "inside" the stadium or on the sidelines. Normally they remain at or near the ambulance just outside the gates of the stadium. It does not sound like anyone summoned them until several minutes later, thus they can not respond if they do not know there is a problem on the field! In my opinion, the coach should have immediately brought it to the official's attention at which time the game would have been stopped while they summoned the EMS personnel. It would be normal for EMS personnel to respond on foot with a stretcher to the injured player. Play should have remained stopped until they removed the child from the field of play, and yes the field of play includes the sidelines for an injury that requires EMS personnel!

Once the player was removed from the stadium to the parking lot with the ambulance, play could have resumed even during the helicopter landing, however I believe I would have stopped play during that time because of the distractions involved with a helicopter landing in the stadium parking lot, etc to be fair to both teams and allow them a moment of silence and a chance to regroup and focus!

Given the fact that the kid had suffered a concussion in the weeks leading up to that game and given his symptoms on the sidelines, I seriously question the coach that chose to ignore this and continue to focus on the game with wanton disregard for this child's health and welfare! THE COACH should have IMMEDIATELY called for a game stoppage for an injury timeout and instructed the officials to notify EMS personnel to respond to their sidelines! I for one would recommend contacting the UIL, the State Board of Education, and the school board, and at a minimum recommend that this coach receive remedial training on head injuries! Luckily the child is recovering! If this delay would have hindered his recovery in any way, my lawyer would have been in contact with the school district!

Again, my thoughts and prayers are with that child and his family right now!

[BurkFan]

Thank you OldBison75. That was my point exactly. This was a systemic failure somehow and somewhere. And while there seems to be a lot of issues, you seem to wrap it up very well. The major point I had to this thread that, if this was an isolated incident, so be it. If Ronnie had simply stayed down in the field of play, this whole thread would not have been necessary. It would have been given the due attention we give all players injured. But since he came off the field, the whole situation went unnoticed for too long a time. I saw no stadium staff with any communication devices at all. I believe the lack of communication was tantamount to the systemic failure.

All of you are so incredibly insightful and I value your opinions very much!.

[RedWhiteBlue]

Prayers are going out to Ronnie and his family!!

[Texas Cougar]

As I indicated last night, no one on CS side had any idea what that a Burk player was even injured. I talked to one of the CS coaches last night before they got home, and they did not know that a Burk player was even down. The game should have been stopped. This put the Burk team into a bad position in a tight ballgame. Quite frankly, it may very well have cost them the game. I do not know any Burk coaches or any of their past history, but in my opinion they should have asked the referee to stop the game. CS has an excellant training staff and there are usually a couple of doctors in our stands that would jump at the opportunity to help. Our best wishes and prayers continue to be with Ronnie and his family.

[OldBison75]

Texas Cougar, I agree, that in 99.9% of cases, there are physicians and trained personnel available to help in these situations. And, I know that if the China Springs coaching staff or fans would have known about this , they would have asked that the game be stopped and care provided. I am very disappointed in the Burk staff for not taking the bull by the horns and demanding a stop of the game and immediate medical response. I think it could have played a part in the attitude and focus of the Burk players, but I will not go as far as saying it cost them the game--we will never know.

[bp80884]

As parents, I know we are all concerned. I hope that this is investigated and used as a learning experience to make sure the procedures the UIL has put together and implemented are the right ones.

BurkFan, I do not think 1 person on the China Spring side knew this was going on. We all saw the helicopter land. I was sitting at the very top and had people coming up by me to see what was going on. As a group, we did not know what was going on, but we prayed for whoever was injured. We really had no idea it was someone from the game.

The Burkburnett team and fans were/are worldclass in every sense of the word. It is always to see teams play hard and clean and at the end come together as 1 team and pray.

God Bless the entire Burkburnett community!

[BurkFan]

YOU ARE THE BEST CHINA SPRING FANS!!! SIMPLY THE BEST!!!

We all knew that the China Spring fans didn't know. Heck the refs didn't know!

FYI..What we found out was that one of the high school trainers, at the behest of the certified trainer, went looking for the EMT stafff and could not locate them. The were at the corner of the fencing watching the game.

Maybe we can have a simple stadium issued walkie takie...even the cheap ones like they have at Radio Shack or whatever so that there can be communication between EMT and Certified trainers/team doctors or something? I don't know. There were no stadium staff that I could see. Please understand I am not knocking the Aledo folks either. This is not a "pointing blame" situation for me. If we have similar sitations, I want to do all I can do to raise awareness.

This is not how any athletic contest should end. I want all the China Spring fans to enjoy their win and get ready to practice for next week. I want them to win Division I so badly. True class was and is shown by my new friends in China Spring. Hope we get to play you again next year...we will certainly all share a hug and a prayer if we can. God Bless you all!

[bp80884]

One thing I would really be in favor of is having a certified doctor at each Football game as well as EMTs.

It would be an additional expense, but could you put a price on having one there last night in that situation.

I will be writing a letter tonight and making a few suggestions. I always like addressing a potential issue, but I also feel like we need to come to the table with solutions as well.

No pointing the finger, only looking to prevent something like this going forward.

[Mcguirk]

Originally posted by WylieBulldog92
I was kinda scared for number 12 from Seminole last night he was walking towards our sidelines at the end of the first half and I could swear he had a concussion and they stuck him right back in the second half it scared me...

We were amazed that he came back for 3rd quarter. He took a tremendous hit on the last play of the half and started to exit the field with the Bulldogs. Seminole players (or coaches) had to lead him to the Seminole locker room. As for Wylie, there is a doctor who volunteers his time for all the games.

[Mcguirk]

And our prayers are with this young man and his family.

[Texas Cougar]

Originally posted by OldBison75
Texas Cougar, I agree, that in 99.9% of cases, there are physicians and trained personnel available to help in these situations. And, I know that if the China Springs coaching staff or fans would have known about this , they would have asked that the game be stopped and care provided. I am very disappointed in the Burk staff for not taking the bull by the horns and demanding a stop of the game and immediate medical response. I think it could have played a part in the attitude and focus of the Burk players, but I will not go as far as saying it cost them the game--we will never know.

Coach Bell has his critics as does every coach, but he genuinely cares about the kids. He would have gaithered both teams at mid field and led the prayer. Coach Bell has lost a child and has extreme passion for the kids. Again not to knock a coach that I do not know, but certain things take precedence.

[BurkFan]

Update on players condition: He was taken out of ICU yesterday morning..he is in a regular room and may have to be in the hospital a couple of days to as much as a week.

I will keep you posted when he is released

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by BurkFan
Update on players condition: He was taken out of ICU yesterday morning..he is in a regular room and may have to be in the hospital a couple of days to as much as a week.

I will keep you posted when he is released
Prayers for his continued healing.

[Rabid Cougar]

There are at least one or two doctors on the sideline and most CS games. I know there were two at the game Saturdays game. They have attended opponents players at our home games .

[GreenMonster]

Burkfan, I am sorry to hear that you feel like this situation was mishandled. I was not there, but I can tell you from personal experience as a coach on the sideline that we rely exclusively on what that trainer on our sideline relays to us. Obviously, your trainer felt like she had the situation under control and did not ask for any stoppage in the game. The head coach went over to check on the player and there must not have been anything passed on to him by the trainer. You stated that there are student trainers readily available to assist the professional trainer so it would be easy for her to ask one of them to get a coach or any other help that she felt that she needed. Unfortunately, injuries are a part of the game of football. It is a very dangerous sport and all closed head injuries are extrememly difficult to diagnose because the injury cannot be seen. To compound the fact that the injury cannot be seen, these type of injuries sometimes get worse gradually over a period of time. It is also apparent that even the EMT's present did not feel the situation warranted a stoppage of play or they would have stopped everything to get that ambulance where it needed to be. The key to diagnosing the severity of a closed head injury is constant and repetitive monitoring. Instead of being angry about how the situation was handled, you should be grateful that the medical personnel on hand did what they have been trained to do and continue to monitor the changing symptoms and upgraded his care as was needed. Do not blame coaches and officials for continuing on when they were uninformed of the situation much less the severity of the situation. As a coach I am aware of injuries, but I am also aware that these are to be expected in football and it is my job to monitor the play on the field and not the condition of the injured. I work extrememly hard in practices to teach these young men how to play the game in a manner that reduces the risk of serious injury. Notice that I said "reduces the risk of serious injury," no amount of teaching or coaching can remove the risk of serious injury. That is the nature of the game. The coaches know the risk, the kids know the risk, and the parents know the risk. That young man's parents knew the risk he was taking when he walked on to that field. They knew what a head injury can do to a young man because they had already experienced it once this season. The doctors explained the risk explicitly, I know this because they do not want to be sued. Once a player has had one concussion it becomes easier for that player to have another because the human body never really completely heals from a concussion. The risk is reduced more over time, but right now medical advice is one to two weeks removed from all contact depending on the severity of the concussion. Once again, I'm 100% positive that if any of the medical personnel onhand deemed the situation severe enough to stop the game there would have been no hesitation to do so. I'm also 100% sure that in hind sight these people are second guessing their actions from that night right now as well. Regardless of what the outside perception is of how the medical staff, coaches, or officials handled the situation they all have the best interest of the child at the top of their priorities. Coaches work 80 to 100 hours a week during fottball season. They spend more time with your kids than they do with their own. Coaches work twice as many hours as any other teacher in the scholl for roughly 5 thousand dollars a year more pay. It is a labor of love. We don't do it for the money, we don't even do it for the thrill of victory, we do it for the love of your kids. So, to think that there was a lack of care for that young man on his coach's part or on the part of anyone involved that night is preposterous.

Sincerely,
Coach GreenMonster

[BullsFan]

Glad to hear a good report, BurkFan. Keep us updated. :)