Middle school player dies during game

[Corndog89]

Last year a player for Vanderbilt collapsed at practice and was saved by a quick-reacting team trainer. The use of a defibrilator was determined the key to saving his life. My bet is he would think having one in every gym would be a good idea.

[Corndog89]

This past Sunday a runner at the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon was revived by a difibrilator. The doctors working the marathon said that without the difibrilator the man probably would not have survived. He was walking and out of the hospital today.

A HS basketball player on the Big Island (Hawaii) died earlier this year and yep, you guessed it, doctors say that if a defibrilator had been available he probably would have survived. Looks like his family will be suing the school, the district, the coaches, not sure who else.

[a4caster]

This reminds me of a related incident in my FIRST varsity game ever. I'm doing a great game, making some killer calls, the game is getting close with the visiting underdog making a comeback. All of a sudden, the visitor's get a steal, player is going to the hoop, defender comes in. The ball handler stops, defender jumps and momentum carries him towards the ball. The handler bends over to absorb the impact, the defender flips over the player and lands on his shoulder and head. BAM!!! Did I mention I am "five" feet away from him when it happens? Anyway, he goes into a seizure, and the place is crazy. One of his teammates is almost crying, and I try to console and direct him away from the player. He finally stops seizing, and maintains breathing, but it took 30 minutes for the ambulance because it was snowing like mad outside. He turned out ok, but they called the game, with good reason.
This really affected me, not so much that it traumatized me, but the fact that I didn't know what to do to help. I mean, we keep hands off, but when it is life and death, all rules are off. So, I got my first responder training, basically EMT without drugs, so that in the case that something MAJOR happens, like a heart attack or seizure, I can do something to help. Did you know that in the case of a seizure, the best thing to do is place your shoes under the patient's head? It keeps the head from striking the hard floor. Don't restrain him, just let him "seize out." And like I said, we see some good injuries in sports, especially football, and you really have to restrain yourself from helping out. But when it's life or death, I am grateful that I might just be able to save a life.

[jallen]

As a teacher and department head in a school, I am shocked and stunned that a picture of the boy and his name are published openly like this. Even though it may be common knowledge and even in the local newspapers, to post this information is despicable. Think of the young man's family if they were to hear about this. Maybe this is typical American sensationalism but here in Canada we have privacy laws. I cannot believe what I just read.
Discuss the tragedy but not the name for G-d sakes.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by jallen

As a teacher and department head in a school, I am shocked and stunned that a picture of the boy and his name are published openly like this. Even though it may be common knowledge and even in the local newspapers, to post this information is despicable. Think of the young man's family if they were to hear about this. Maybe this is typical American sensationalism but here in Canada we have privacy laws. I cannot believe what I just read.
Discuss the tragedy but not the name for G-d sakes.

And, apparently an odd idea of what is private. A person died in public. While tragic, the fact that it happened in public makes it public, not private.

[jallen]

Nothing astounds me more than how some view the world. A young man died and it seems that there is no respect for his family or him. The issue here is DECENCY. It is perfectly fine to discuss the tragic event, but this young man was not a public figure and, at least here in Canada where there is common sense, names of minors are not released. Think about his family but it appears from the person who replied to this, common sense, empithy and basically what is right is overlooked. Nothing astounds me anymore but what if it was your child, I am sure you would be angered to see it posted in the callous manner it was. I have refereed many games where kids where medic alert bracelets, you can only hope you never have to react to it.
freedom of speech, my a**, does not over ride personal rights.

[refnrev]

Originally Posted by tjones1

Simply a sad story... that's all that needs to be said!

_____________________

Ditto!

[jmaellis]

Originally Posted by BayStateRef

While we're at it, let's put one in every Denny's. And every McDonald's. And every church. And every automobile. And then....let's put one in....

I presume the Ohio schools are as large as those around here. And I presume that they are "locked" except for the gym on weekends when the youth leagues play. So how many defibs do we need? One for the gym; one for the auditorium; one for the cafeteria. Then one for each floor. And then....make sure to have a paramedic or RN or EMT or someone proficient enough to use it in an emergency.

I don't believe the answer to this tragedy is defibs in the school. Sometimes tragedies occur. We don't always know what's happening with a human heart. Let's not pretend we can prevent every death, "if only....."

A truly asinine statement!!

AED are very simple to use and don't require any specialized training ... just follow the instructions, they are idiot proof, cept for the idiots who don't think that they are a good idea to have at hand.

Many of the high school age sudden cardiac deaths during athletics turn out to be attributed to a condition called long Q-T syndrome, symptoms typically don't appear until adolescence. An AED could save the life of a kid who goes down because of this problem. I did a lot of research on this recently when my 14 year old daughter began fainting during volleyball practice. The doctor's initial thought was long Q-T syndrome (it turns out not to be the problem). I hadn't thought about finding out if there is an AED in the gym at her high school until read this thread. I'm going to find out now and if there is not, well, I guess it's fund raising time.