Heat-Related Illness Protection

How to recognize and help a player in trouble

By John Engh
Photos: Nic Lehoux Photography

Only a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to direct a video shoot with Martin McNair at the Xfinity Center on the University of Maryland campus in College Park. Martin, or “Marty” as he is widely known, is the father of Jordan McNair, a highly recruited Division One football player, who ultimately chose the University of Maryland to pursue his athletic and academic dreams. Jordan’s life was cut short during a spring practice before his sophomore year after suffering heat stroke, passing away at the age of 19. As I stood next to the camera while watching and listening to Marty tell this tragic story, I couldn’t help but think how I would have handled this devastating incident if it had involved one of my children. All I know is that I would hope I would be as determined to make as important an impact as Marty and Jordan’s mother, Tonya, are doing these days. 

Photo: © Can Stock Photo / rommma

After Jordan’s passing, they created the Jordan McNair Foundation, which has a very specific mission—to reduce the number of heat-related illnesses and improve player safety. Marty wrote a book, Can My Child Play? The Questions We Should Have Asked, which not only deals with heat-related illness prevention, but is an incredible story every parent can learn from. They have also donated hundreds of cold-water tubs, which serve as an immediate first-step remedy when a child is suffering from heat illness. And, most recently, and the reason I traveled to Maryland to capture Marty’s story, is they spearheaded an effort to partner with the city of Baltimore so every youth-sports coach can complete comprehensive safety training, which includes concussion awareness, proper use of an AED, and, of course, recognizing and dealing with the symptoms of heat-related illness. The training will benefit hundreds of coaches and thousands of children each year—and the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) is proud to be a part of these efforts by putting together the training that will be used.

Bear In Mind

What the McNairs are doing to help prevent the loss of young lives in sports is an amazing tribute to a son who was gone too quickly. While putting together this training,  NAYS has been fortunate to speak with some outstanding experts. Below are some important tips to keep in mind for your programs, courtesy of Stacy Carone and Jay Sabol, who are among the experts featured in the training and have shared their insights. Carone is the Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Sabol is the Head Athletic Trainer for the Miami Heat.  

1.     Expect the worst. “If a child unexpectedly goes down on the field, always think worst-case scenario,” Carone says, “because it’s an unusual event for a child to go out cold.”

2.     Use due diligence. “I tell this to our staff: Never be afraid to call 911,” Carone says. “If in the back of your mind you’re thinking ‘maybe I should’—then you should. Because the EMS crew, or a parent, is never going to be upset if you acted with due diligence or were overly conservative. As a mother myself, if you ever have any doubt, get the right medical personnel, and I’ll be OK with it. So, if in the back of your mind that little light goes off, trust that instinct and know that it’s OK if an emergency crew shows up and it’s not an emergency.”

Photo: NAYS

3.     Practice planning. “In today’s world we have to be smarter,” Sabol says. “You have to be prepared for emergencies; as a parent, I’m entrusting you with my child’s care. Coaches can’t just walk out onto the field and wing it. They need to have a plan. They need to know what drills they’re going to do and when their hydration breaks are going to be.”

4.     Focus on fluids. “I like to recommend a water break every 10 to 15 minutes,” Carone says. “Mandatory 10 to 15 minutes, giving that space, telling the athletes that now we go take a water break. Even in the collegiate level, we recognize that an athlete will get wrapped up in what they are doing and won’t always listen to those cues of ‘I’m thirsty’ or ‘I have a headache.’ So, I rely a lot on my coaches to say ‘let’s take a break, let’s push the water, let’s push the fluids.’ We always like a good balance of an electrolyte beverage—a Gatorade, a Powerade, or even a Pedialyte—and water. Because we know that, when we sweat, we don’t just lose fluids, we lose the electrolytes, and that’s really important to our muscle function and our brain function, and simple water isn’t going to replace that. Water is amazing, but we need that 50-50 balance of water with an electrolyte beverage to replace the electrolytes that we lose when we sweat.”

5.     Recognize the path to problems. “If it’s extremely hot outside and you’re not giving them adequate water breaks or your athletes aren’t drinking, you’re heading down the road for heat illness,” Sabol says. “What is key for athletes is during your water breaks, they need to dry off, so everybody should have a towel, because your body cools by sweating. So, as you take in fluid, your body sweats and that helps cool your body and your core temperature. If you see your athletes just pouring water all over their body, that’s not a good thing because the water needs to go in the body, not on their body.”

John Engh is executive director of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) in West Palm Beach, Fla. He can be reached via email at jengh@nays.org. To join more than 3,000 communities by starting a NAYS Member Organization, visit www.nays.org, email nays@nays.org or call (800) 729-2057.