Injuries and Other Situations

[HJ25]

This post is sort of twofold:

The first, on-topic part of it is: in case of an injury in which the player cannot be moved except by paramedics (and the game is stopped for several minutes), are there any rule s stating whether you continue the game at the same point, or do you do otherwise?

I ask this because a couple of weeks ago (I'm a player) I dislocated my patella during a game (no, it wasn't a pleasant sight.) The game was stopped for 15-20 minutes (possibly more.) I was later told the refs called this "halftime" and resumed the 3rd quarter with 12:37 remaining. (These are FIBA rules, I don't know whether or not this has any bearing.) My question, basically, is, are there any rules anywhere stating that this should happen, either at a "federation" level, or any specific state rules?

My other question is just another, less on-topic one:

I know some of you have had long careers and have officiated thousands of games - you must've seen some pretty big things. What's the worst injury you've seen? Have any of you officiated a game during which a player went into cardiac arrest or something similar? Any big fights? (I'm just curious, I'm sure there are some good stories.)

[zebraman]

I don't know FIBA rules (thank goodness). In NFHS, you would resume the game from the point that it was interrupted.

I have never had an injury happen in any of my games more serious than a twisted ankle (knock on wood). Unfortunately, a friend of mine who refs in our association had a freshman kid collapse and die of a heart defect right in front of him in a JV game about 5 years ago.

Z

[JugglingReferee]

1. There's nothing in the Federation rule or case book that addresses what you described. However, I can see it being a very common thing because that 20 minute break followed by 90 seconds of playing time, followed by a 10 minute half-time can (a) put the gym behind schedule and (b) play weird with the mental game for all players. I think this practice is a good thing to do. In my state (ahem), there is no provision to do this. If it is done, it is solely between the officials and game management at that time.

2. The worst injury I know of is one that I only heard about. Some dood messed up his patella pretty bad. It was not a pleasant sight, as the story goes. One of the refs puked on the visiting coaches shoes.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by HJ25

What's the worst injury you've seen? Have any of you officiated a game during which a player went into cardiac arrest or something similar? [/B]

The two worst incidents that I had occurred in football games.

In my first year- many, many moons ago- in a high school varsity game, I noticed a player staggering around right after the final gun. The player fell down and lay completely still; an ambulance was called (there wasn't one there) and they took the kid away. The kid died the next day. It turns out that he got a severe concussion the week before in a game, was treated by his family doctor- but neither the kid nor the family doctor advised either his parents or his coaches. Iow, there was no way he shoulda been on the field. He musta got another shot during the game, because his autopsy showed a severe cerebral haemmorhage. And... that player was 2 years older than I was at that time. I had just turned 16.

A few years after that, I was doing a rec-type football game for players U19. A pass receiver got nailed right in front of his bench, did a complete flip and landed right on his head. Before we could get to him, and ignoring us hollering at him not to, one of his coaches came on the field, turned him over and removed his helmet. When we got there, the kid couldn't move and had no feeling from the neck down. They packed him away in an ambulance too, but it was too late. He ended up being a quadriplegic. I knew that kid fairly well too- he was a jerk but nobody deserves that.

In both case, there were no lawsuits involved, or anything related to one. It just wasn't thought of back then. If you played, you took your chances. Today? Shudder.....

In basketball, in games over the years I've seen broken arms, legs, noses, collarbones, etc. Knee injuries galore. I've had my own nose broken twice and some fingers broken twice also, as well as having to be stitched up once also(elbow over the eye on a jump ball).

[Corndog89]

Knock on wood, but I've never had a player seriously injured in any of the sports I've called (b-ball, football, softball, rugby).

The basketball injury that will always stand out in my memory was when David Thompson of NC State skied to the basket and literally tripped over a teammate's shoulder. It was in either the '74 or '75 NCAA tournament round of 8 or 16...can't recall for sure or who the Pack was playing. He landed on his noggin and didn't move seemingly forever...I remember thinking he was dead. Played the next game. I guess there was no concussion.

[NICK]

Definitely not a Fiba rule.