TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY LEADS IN SPORTS-RELATED DEATHS

Sports safety is an active area of funded research. Each advance in development and application of safety procedures and equipment works to minimize severe, life-altering injuries. Those who fund research to mitigate sports-related injury realize the urgency of advancements in safety.

Traumatic brain injury is the number one leading cause of death across all sports.

Professional sports teams

Professional football teams spare no expense on ensuring the safety of their players. They use the highest standard of engineered safety equipment and state-of-the-art safety procedures. All field coaches have extensive training in sports safety. Ambulances and paramedics are on the field at every game to provide immediate medical trauma intervention when every second is crucial. Scores of impressive medical doctors are at each game. They are the best doctors in their fields in the nation.

High school sports teams

There is no uniform standard requiring any medical presence for high school football practices or games. Some proactive high schools provide EMTs at every game and require parents to sign permission forms for treatment in the event of a serious injury. Other high schools feel the cost of a trained medic on site (upwards of $1,000 per game) is “not worth it” in the words of one high school administrator.

One Florida mother’s injured son waited 17 minutes at a football game for hospital transport at his new school. Her son’s former school provided an ambulance at every game. The young man’s mother could not believe the school district refused to accept accountability for their negligence in not ensuring the football players’ safety.

Any parent whose student sustains a school sports injury as a result of an irresponsible lack of safety measures has the right to pursue damages. Most parents do not realize that cheerleading is second only to football in TBIs, paraplegia and death. Safety measures in cheerleading are virtually nonexistent. Parents can step in and let school districts know that their children deserve protection; if they do not receive it, there may be a penalty for school districts that will significantly exceed the expense of safety measures.