Changes For High School Football Players With Head Injuries

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Posted: 7:27 AM Oct 10, 2008
Last Updated: 7:27 AM Oct 10, 2008
Reporter: Dave Jordan

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After the deaths of three North Carolina high school football players, including Jaquan Waller from J.H. Rose in Greenville, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association is taking action.

Waller and one of the other players died from head injuries. New safeguards will keep players with head injuries off the field.

A medical panel for the association said that athletes suspected of suffering a concussion must be cleared by a physician before they can play or practice.

The committee's recommendation requiring written permission from a physician before a player can resume practice is effective immediately.

The panel also said schools need to file emergency action plans with the association detailing how they respond to player injuries.

Schools also need to certify the credentials of their athletic trainers or first-responders and have a first-responder trained.

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Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 16, 2008 at 08:48 PM
Soccer Player: Since you claim to know everything start enumerating. Secondly had many head blows/tackles Mr. Jaquan Walker had? WHY there weren't any EMT's at the game? What is the policy regarding that? I'll be waiting for your answers... Thank you

Posted by: Soccer Player Location: Greenville on Oct 15, 2008 at 06:17 PM
Wow, all of you sound as if you don't know the whole story. Jaquan Waller got a mild concussion, either a grade one or a grade two. For those who don't know, the symptoms of a Grade 1 concussion are dizziness or "rung bell," which happens to me usually once a soccer game, either by heading the ball or being hit by it. A Grade 2 has the same symptoms as a grade one, but also includes a knot on the head. You can't tell me that you go to the doctor every time you hit your head hard. By the way, at the game, there were no EMTs around. They had to wait for them to show up.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 14, 2008 at 03:57 PM
geez: With ALL due respect you are naive... There are a lot of EMT's around. Anybody can perform CPR. Assessing a player after a concussion is totally a different situation. That's what got us to this predicament/debate which is to provide these EMT's the training needed to protect the players. Another technique is the cooling saline administration method done to the Buffalo Bills player when he sustained a back injury during a game. Thanks to the technique that player is able to walk and resume a normal life.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 10, 2008 at 06:57 PM
VBush: With ALL due respect: READ. ANY player with a head [concussion] MUST get a clearance from a physician. If you want to call that a regulation then so be it but it protects the player. Think about it. Had that measure been in place Jaquan Waller and perhaps the other two players lives could have easily been saved. I am 100% in agreement with The Pirate Lady. BTW TPL this is a subject that I have been researching lately. If I come across any links I will post them. I have an opinion of the Jaquan Waller situation and I will keep it home. I am NOT a physician. Had I being one it would NOT have changed what happened. I got the feeling this will end in a court room and then we'll know the details. If I'm NOT mistaken the games and perhaps the practices were taped which can easily be subpoenaed. The best is yet to come! Stay tuned!

Posted by: geez on Oct 10, 2008 at 08:21 AM
That's great, now put the traner at J. H. Rose back to work. He is a Medical Responder w/CPR certification.

Posted by: my Location: opinion on Oct 10, 2008 at 12:43 AM
I think this is wonderful.. should of been in force long ago!! Sad that it took losing 3 awesome football players to get this done.

Posted by: VBush Location: MHCY on Oct 9, 2008 at 10:33 PM
Ya know Pirate Lady, the last thing we need is more regulation to 'save us from ourselves'. That is the problem with society in general. It is always someone else's fault. Any sane person or parent in this case would have had themselves or their child checked out by a QUALIFIED physician after a HEAD INJURY on a football field. Why do we always need to make a policy, law, or rule every time someone does something that isn't necessarily the best decision? I have had myself checked for concussions in the past when getting a good knock in the head, I didn't need anyone to make me do it. It is just good sense. Your brain is floating in fluid inside your skull. If you get a good enough wrap on it, it is probably going to crash into your skull inside there. Do you remember the little 'ole lady that sewed McDonald's several years back because she spilled hot coffee in her lap? Of course it was HOT...IT WAS COFFEE. You probably don't get my point......

Posted by: The Pirate Lady Location: Grimesland on Oct 9, 2008 at 09:07 PM
Glad to see that they are NOW enforcing that a player must be cleared by a doctor following a head injury. But I feel like this is a CYA issue b/c it should not have come at the expense of 3 young lives.

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