The NF and NCAA make reference to excessive or uniform-saturated blood, respectively, but what do we do with a player whose uniform has a spot or a few spots of blood on it? I searched high and low through the books, but could not find anything specific.

I went with "the uniform was treated by a trainer, so it's OK for the player to continue to play with the uniform that has (now-treated) blood spots on it," but I was not 100% sure that this was correct.

Thoughts or rulings to confirm or refute my ruling? Thanks!

3-3-6 A player who ....... has an excessive amount of blood on his/her uniform ....shall be directed to leave the game.

Use your judgment to decide what is excessive.

The kid went out -- he was bleeding. The trainer treated him/stopped the bleeding and treated his uniform, and then the formerly bleeding player was allowed back in. The coach of the team without the bleeding player asked if his jersey was OK or if it should be changed, and that is where my question comes from. I guessed that the uniform was OK, having been treated, but could not find anything to confirm my guess.

Communicability
 

The danger is obviously if the blood is transferrable to someone else.... transferability is what makes it excessive. A spot of blood is not readily transferrable unless you think players are going to start sucking on each other's jerseys. A player that is actively bleeding, or dripping, or that can be touched and blood transferred, is excessive. Same would be true of a uniform. Spots of blood that have been wiped off are still visible but are not realistically going to transfer to another player. Spots, of themselves, have no further source of blood and therefore do not need to be covered if they have been wiped off. Open wounds do have a further source of blood... they must be bandaged and covered.

These are just my opinions but are what I use as a rule of thumb.

DTTB, what you said makes sense, regarding transfer - ability. I think that is a pretty reasonable measure of what to do as an official.

Somewhere in the distant past, someone posted on this board about a chemical that could be sprayed onto blood that somehow made it less threatening. Was that Dexter? Dexter, we need you here.

Not sure what that chemical was - sorry.


However, I tend to use the guideline that, if I can see the blood, it's excessive. This, however, probably comes from my training in universal protections.

Okay, it must have been someone else. Thanks for checking in. Sorry to bother you. Back to the salt mines, drudge!!

Can make change with no penalty of changing number!

NFHS procedure calls for the bloodied thing ("contaminated surfaces and equipment") to be cleaned with an "appropriate disinfectant" before the game can continue. Don't know what this magical stuff is but I would bet it contains bleach. I have seen it sprayed on a floor & a shirt.

Re: Communicability
 

Could happen at Transylvania High School :)

follow-up ? for dan_ref
 

Where does it cite the procedure in the NF rules for treating blood? That makes total sense, but I could not find such a reference. Thanks!

Re: follow-up ? for dan_ref
 

I believe somewhere after rule 10 there's a page which gives this procedure in detail.