I haven't seen this here before. We had a visiting player (9th grade boys) show up yesterday wearing a tracheotomy tube, and one of the officials said he was uncomfortable allowing the kid to play.

Apparently the kid has worn this device practically from birth. The device is a soft plastic tube that protrudes maybe 1/2" from the front of the kid's neck attached with a cloth around the neck. No bodily fluids are expelled from the tube.

After being told that the league director had approved this device and that the kid has played with it for years, the official allowed the game to begin. The other official did not express any reservations at any time.

To me this is like a kid wearing eyeglasses with a strap. It could be hazardous, but it is allowed.

Has any one dealt with this before, or can anyone shed some light on what their association would rule?

For me, it remains totally unacceptable to put an official in such a precarious position.

If the kid is allowed to play, show me the paperwork!
He said, she said is really uncomfortable, because he said, she said is too often misquoted.

mick

Amen!

I concur!

I agree with mick! :D

If I was faced with such a situation without knowing anything about it, I would certainly react the same way. Uncomfortable? Who wouldn't be?

[Edited by BktBallRef on Jan 9th, 2006 at 12:46 PM]

Back when I was coaching I had a player with a shunt. It was to help drain fluid from the brain. I always kept the medical documentation with me clearing him to play.

The other night I had a player with a hard cast. During warmup I call him over to look at his hand. Under the tape is a hard cast. I tell the coach he can't play. He says to me but he has played the last six games and no one stopped him. The kid walks over to the bench and takes the cast off and retapes his hand. I was stunned.

Classic!!

Thanks for your responses.

Are you concerned about your own safety, or the player's safety or the safety of the other players? Are you looking for documentation from the player's doctor or the league?

According to our league office, this is an approved piece of medical equipment that players are permitted to wear.

Jim,
I'd be concerned about everyone's safety, the kids safety first and the liability safety for everyone else.

Don't give me heresay or himesay.

Give me a note from the doctor, or a note from the league that the coach always has with him, that he can produce immediately upon request. Michigan does not have tracheotomy tube rule, that I know of, <s>except in your league</s>.

You did read the rule didn't you Jim? ;)

mick

Jim,
I just noticed that you went to New York. Good luck with that move!



[Edited by mick on Jan 9th, 2006 at 03:32 PM]

Make sure you see something that
1) Shows credible evidence that someone other than you and your association has reviewed the hazards and deemed them acceptable.

Unless you are an attorney or a medical doctor and know for certain the consequences of you being wrong - or of the unthinkable happening - you are obligated and entitled to protect yourself.

Jim, how is the official supposed to know that?

I Agree I'm not letting him play untill i see the paper work. I need to cover my a$$.

First game of the season in this league I'm working, one young man asks if he can play with a cast on his hand. I say no. He immediately begins working his coach, the league director, everybody who'll listen. He gets nowhere. He picks up his cell phone and calls his mother for permission to cut it off so he can play. She says no. He calls his dad. Unreal :rolleyes:

If a player presented with a tracheotomy tube, I would be completely bewildered. Seeing as how a tracheotomy is a surgical proceedure, any player undergoing surgery during a basketball game shouldn't be playing. However a player with a tracheoStomy tube might be a different story. Just thought I would enlighten the masses.