How bad does it have to be?
 

One of the players today fell and smacked her temple on the floor. She was helped up and was dazed.

It made me wonder how "out" they have to be to qualify under 3-3-7?

Rita

Being in the medical field I know the definition of unconscious states that there is an interruption of awareness of oneself and one's surroundings, lack of the ability to notice or respond to stimuli in the environment. So take that as you will. But I'd error on the side of safety in all occasions.

Rita:

If she was dazed, she met the requirement of NFHS R3-S3-A7.

MTD, Sr.

"Dazed" equals "apparently unconscious"?

I'm not a doctor, I never played one on TV, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. . . but I disagree.

You err on the side of safety. I'm not a medical doctor so I don't know the legal definition of unconscious. All I know is if the player appears "dazed," incoherent, out of it, whatever you want to call it, he/she is not coming back unless a doctor signs off on it.

I had this situation about 3 weeks ago. A1 runs into the back of B1 and falls to the floor hitting her head. We immediately stop play. Trainer and coach come onto floor. Girl's eyes are literally in the back of her head and she has no clue who she is or where she is.

I talk with my co-official and we say that there is no way she is playing again in that game. I also tell the trainer that unless you have a signed doctor's release I wouldn't let her play again today. She agrees.

WELL . . . daddy comes running onto the floor, JERKS her up off the floor, looks at us and says, "she's OK, let her walk it off and she can play in a few minutes."

Of course, I give the WTF are you thinking look . . . and quietly let him know that we will not allow her to play again until she has been seen and released by a certified medical professional. I also tell him that it is a safety concern, and we don't want to jeopardize her safety (or take on that liability). Daddy tried to argue and I just let him know that we would not be changing our minds.

After half-time, daddy comes up and apologizes, tells us thank you for watching out for his daughter.

I agree with all the other posters . . . err on the side of safety. Coaches, parents, fans, etc. may not like it, but sometimes it takes a common sense voice of reason to take a stand and make the right decision. If you kept her out the rest of the game, I would say you made the right decision. JMO

WTF is daddy running onto the court for?

Blood Thicker .....
 

You have got to be kidding me? For my entire life, I've been involved with sports in one way or another, as a player, as a coach, as an official, and as a fan. But my most cherished role in sports, has been that of a parent of athletes, both male, and female, on all levels, from recreation games, to Divison II college games. If I were a parent in the stands, and my child was injured, not just a possible sprained ankle, etc, but a possible severe injury, like a head injury, I would be out on the court, track, field, etc., with the coach, and trainer, tending to my child, in a split second.

That said, once the father came out onto the court, in this situation, and saw what was occurring, he was as wrong as he could be, which he later apoligized for, after he came to his senses.

Let me rephrase. "If he thought she could walk it off and continue playing, WTF was he running onto the court for?"

That all might be true but you might interfere with those that know what they are doing. Or cause other liability issues by running onto the court. Just throwing it out there.

Peace

I agree that we want to be cautious and err on the side of safety. But I know that I've been dazed after colliding with a player and clearly not been unconscious. I don't think that being dazed -- which I associate with shaking the cobwebs out of your head -- is automatically the same as being unconscious, as Mark seemed to imply above. JMO.

The OP was about a player who had hit temple on the floor. That's a different "dazed" than you're talking about.