News & Studies

Standardizing Preparticipation Physical Exams Is Goal Of New NATA Position Statement

A standardized process for conducting the preparticipation physical examination is needed to ensure a safe playing environment for athletes and to help identify those conditions that may predispose an athlete to injury or sudden death, says the National Athletic Trainers' Association in a new position statement.
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School-Based AED Programs Save Lives, Study Shows

HIgh-school AED programs demonstrate a high survival rate for students as well as adults who suffer sudden cardiac arrest on school campuses, says a new study, which strongly recommends school-based AED programmes as an important public safety measure and an effective strategy for the prevention of sudden cardiac death during sports.
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Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.
Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.

Youth Sports Heroes of the Month: Dan and Susan Farren (Rohnert Park, CA.); Ray Antonopoulos & Jeff Meisner (West Newbury, MA)

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Fri, 05/31/2013 - 13:40. | comments


In a Cal Ripkin Baseball game on April 13, eight-year-old Matthew Henry was hit in the chest by a pitch and left the batter's box on his way to first base. He collapsed after a few steps, reportedly the victim of commotio cordis ("agitation of the heart," in Latin).

The value of having trained medical personnel and an automated external defibrillator nearby was never more apparent then in this month's Youth Sports Heroes blog honoring two pairs of Good Samaritans who, in an 11-day span, saved the lives of an 8-year-old baseball player and a mom watching her son play baseball.
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Many U.S. High Schools Unprepared For Cardiac Emergency

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of sudden death in exercising young athletes, but despite data showing that early defibrillation with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can save nearly two-thirds of student-athletes who suffer SCA, many U.S. high schools are not prepared to respond to an SCA or have significant deficiencies that could be improved, a new study finds.
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Brooke de Lench
Brooke de Lench

New Jersey Athletic Trainers To Hold Third Annual Sports Safety Summit

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 07/13/2012 - 13:56. | comments

MomsTEAM has consistently supported athletic trainers' groups, both at the national (NATA) and state level, in their efforts to improve youth sports safety, both through education and by advocating for ATs in every high school (less than half of U.S. high schools have an AT on staff, although the percentages vary dramatically from state to state).

One of the most active athletic trainers' association at the state level is in New Jersey, which was the first state to require by law that coaches receive safety training, is among the 40 states that have enacted strong youth concussion safety laws, and has been a leader in advocating for academic accommodations for concussed student-athletes. 

Athletic trainers are essential to making youth sports as safe as it can be.  Educational programs, such as the Athletic Trainers Society of New Jersey's third annual sports safety summit on August 1, 2012 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, are important to educating health care professionals on safety issues, including concussions, heat illness, sudden cardiac death and overuse injuries.
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Commotio Cordis: Tragedy on an Arizona Diamond

In early June 2010 tragedy struck a baseball field in Arizona when a 13-year-old Little Leaguer trying to bunt was struck in the chest. He took a few steps towards first base, collapsed, and died the next morning. Getting hit by a pitch is to be expected when playing baseball. Dying is not. What killed the Arizona boy? A rare condition called commotio cordis.
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Screening Athletes For Heart Conditions: Debate Continues

The death of young, seemingly healthy, athletes from undetected heart problems often generates considerable media attention and re-ignites the debate over the optimal approach to screening young competitive athletes for heart problems to minimize death from sudden cardiac arrest.
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Child's Physical Activity Level May Predict Future Heart Health

Children who don't exercise enough may show early signs of cardiovascular disease, according to a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's 57th Annual Meeting in Baltimore.
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Lacrosse Has Highest Death Rate From Ill-Timed Blows To Chest

Sudden deaths due to ill-timed blows to the chest (commotio cordis) are more common in the nation's fastest growing sport, lacrosse, than in any other sport, according to a new study in the September 2009 journal, Pediatrics.
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Death of Athlete from Sudden Cardiac Arrest Highlights Need for AED Training

According to the September 12, 2004 story in the Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, when rising football star Ryan Boslet suffered sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during a workout at his school gym on February 20, 2003, the AED the school had only recently purchased wasn't used - even though it was just the length of a basketball court away in the athletic director's office - because a staff member couldn't find the adhesive electrode pads, which were tucked under a flap inside the AED. Thinking the device was inoperable, coaches called 911, and administered CPR to the 6-foot-4, 270 pound defensive tackle, but the 17-year old died later that day. Boslet's death, said the story, points to a larger problem: "Ordinary people, even with training, often can't use the increasingly popular defibrillators under the pressure of an emergency."

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