There is good news and bad news in a new study (3) on exertional heat illness in high school sports: the bad news is that the rate for football players is 11 times higher that of all other sports combined, and that, in a third of the cases, no medical professional was on site at the time of injury. The good news is that, despite a rash of heat-related deaths (6 in 2011 alone, all in football), the overall rate of EHI across all high school sports is low and dropping.
Researchers from a number of universities, including Marshall, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, found that exertional heat illnesses were widely distributed geographically, not just in hot or humid areas, that most occurred in August, during practice (more than a third more than 2 hours into the practice session), most often in football, and, in a third of the cases, with no medical professional onsite at the time of onset of the illness.
Examining data for the period 2005 to 2011 obtained from the National HIgh School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance System, High School RIO®, the study reported that:
Football poses far and away the highest risk of exertional heat illness:
The study recommended:
According to the National Center for Catastrohic Sport Injury Research (1), 35 high school football players died from exertional heat stroke [7] between 1995 and 2010. In the summer of 2011, six high school players died due to high temperatures and lack of rehydration (2). Indeed, in the 5-year period from 2005 to 2009, more exertional heat stroke deaths occurred in organized sports than in any other 5-year perod over the past 35 years. (2)
1. Mueller F, Colgate B. Annual survey of football injury research, 1931-2010. National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2011. www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/2010fbannual.pdf [8].
2. Brady E. Heat-related illness still deadly problem for athletes. USA Today, August 15, 2011. www.usatoday.com/sports/2011-08-15-heatstroke-still-causing-death-in-athletes_n.htm.
3. Kerr ZY, Casa DJ, Marshall SW,Comstock RD. Epidemiology of Exertional Heat Illness Among U.S. High School Athletes. Am J Prev Med 2013;44(1):8 -14)
4. Mueller FO, Colgate B. Annual survey of football injury research, 1931-2008. National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009. www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/footballannual.pdf.
5. Mueller FO, Cantu RC. Catastrophic sports injury research: twentyeighth annual report: fall 1982-spring 2010. National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2010. www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/2010allsport.pdf.
6. Yard EE, Gilchrist J, Haileyesus T, et al. Heat illness among high school athletes-U.S., 2005-2009. J Safety Res 2010;41(6):471- 4.
7. Huffman EA, Yard EE, Fields SK, Collins CL, Comstock RD. Epidemiology of rare injuries and conditions among U.S. high school athletes during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. J Athl Train 2008;43(6):624 -30.
8. Brett Israel and The Daily Climate. "More States Blow Whistle on High School Football Heat Illness." Scientific American; April 28, 2013
(http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=more-states-blow-the-wh... [1])
Posted May 2, 2013, Revised and updated February 1, 2017
Links:
[1] http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=more-states-blow-the-whistle-on-high-school-football-heat-illness
[2] https://momsteam.com/node/2697
[3] https://momsteam.com/node/5014
[4] https://momsteam.com/node/5013
[5] https://momsteam.com/node/871
[6] https://momsteam.com/node/282
[7] https://momsteam.com/node/866
[8] http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/2010fbannual.pdf
[9] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/pre-season-heat-acclimatization-guidelines
[10] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/hydration-safety/cancel-modify-games-practices-heat-humidity
[11] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/hydration-safety/when-too-hot-for-sports-depends-on-heat-index
[12] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/georgia-adopts-heat-acclimatization-guidelines
[13] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/children-handle-heat-as-well-as-adults-studies-say
[14] https://momsteam.com/heat-stroke/high-school-football-players-most-prone-heat-illness-CDC-study-says
[15] https://momsteam.com/sports/football-tackle/safety/why-football-players-at-greater-risk-of-heat-illness
[16] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/keeping-young-athletes-hydrated-critical-preventing-heat-illnesses
[17] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/hydration-safety/heat-index-measures-risk-heat-illness-for-athletes
[18] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/hydration-safety/ice-water-immersion-best-treating-exertional-heat-stroke
[19] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/risk-factors-exertional-heat-illness
[20] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/pre-season-heat-safety-guidelines-high-school-sports-states-have-been-slow-act
[21] https://momsteam.com/preseason-heat-acclimatization-guidelines-secondary-school-athletics