Quote:
Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
Quote:
Originally posted by firedoc
Here is an opinion from someone who is both a referee and a physician (Emergency medicine):
Don't let him/her play without a written note from a physician. By definition anyone having a true seizure, whether diabetic or other, is unconscious. In the post they said that he didn't respond to the coach. That is also a definition of unconsciousness.
Remember! Always err on the side of safety.
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I will bow to the good doctor's medical information concerning diabetics and unconsciousness. But in the play posted, the diabetic athlete was not a player at the time of the seizure. NFHS R3-S1-A1 defines that there a team consists of five players, one of whom is the captain. NFHS R4-S34-A1 defines players as the five team members who legally on the court at any given time. NFHS R4-S34-A3 defines when a substitue becomes a player and when a player becomes a substitute.
Therefore, NFHS R2-S8-A5 (unconscious player rule) does not apply here, and I would seriously advise not trying to invoke NFHS R2-S3 (elastic clause rule) to this case.
I share the doctor's concern about letting this child playing in the game but we has officials do not have the authority to deny him entry into the game.
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Sadly Mark you are giving incredibly bad advice here. As
officials on the floor we have not just the authority
but the responsibility to ensure the safety of the
particiants under this NFHS rule. And in a game being
played by grade school children we have a moral duty to
make sure cooler heads prevail, ie keep the kid on the
bench. Now, what about this play:
In an attempt to prevent the ball from going OOB player B1
collides with sub A6 during playing action. A6 is bleeding
from the head and both B1 and A6 are judged by the
officials to have been rendered unconcious. The referee
tells coach B that B1 may not return without written
doctor's authorization. He tells coach A that A6 may return
as soon as his head stops bleeding. Has the referee done
the right thing?