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High School Football Injuries Result In Seven Deaths In First Seven Weeks Of 2015 H.S. Football Season

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High School Football Injuries And Deaths Have Been In The News All To Often. With The Latest Brining Us 7 Fatalities On The Football Field Over 7 Weeks Of Play.

The deaths of seven high school football players over the past seven weeks of the football season raise concerns nationwide over the growing number of cnn.com/2015/10/25/us/illinois-high-school-football-player-death/, CNN, October 26, 2015]
[ihsa.org/NewsMedia/Announcements/tabid/93/ID/780/IHSA-Addresses-Passing-of-Bogan-High-School-Student-Andre-Smith.aspx, IHSA, October 24, 2015]

The deaths of high school players are directly and indirectly related to the sport, according to a survey by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR) at the University of North Carolina. The survey found 11 high school players died in 2014 and five deaths were due to direct causes such as head and spine injuries, while six players died of indirect causes, such as heart-related injuries, heat stroke and water intoxication. The survey recommended that students pass mandatory medical examinations and medical history before being allowed to play, schools have certified athletic trainers, and emergency measures be in place for all games and practices.
[nccsir.unc.edu/files/2013/10/Annual-Football-2014-Fatalities-Final.pdf, NCCSIR, 2014]

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends students slowly work up to playing games in the heat and drink water during practice. The AAP suggest teams avoid playing on the hottest or most humid days, or playing with less intensity on those days, and rest between back-to-back sessions. When these simple rules are ignored, things can go wrong, says Dr. Thomas Rowland, a pediatric heart doctor at Baystate Health in Springfield, Massachusetts.
[reuters.com/article/2011/08/10/us-take-precautions-heat-idUSTRE7795XH20110810, August 10, 2011]

A study conducted by the New York Daily News in 2013, found football-related deaths among high school and college football players are not uncommon. According to the survey, an average of 12 high school and college football players die each year in the United States. Researchers reviewed NCCSIR data and found 243 football deaths occurred between July 1990 and June 2010. Of those deaths, 100 athletes died of an unknown heart condition, 62 were caused by a brain injury, and 38 were caused by heat-related injuries. High school athletes accounted for 203 of the 243 deaths.
[nydailynews.com/life-style/health/average-12-school-football-players-die-year-study-article-1.1309671, New York Daily News April 6, 2013]

Lawsuits have been filed in recent years over the deaths of high school football players. In one instance, a California mother filed a lawsuit last summer against the companies that manufactured and reconditioned the helmet worn by her 16-year-old son who collapsed during a Riverside High School football game in 2013 and later died. The Press Enterprise reported the mother, whose son had significant swelling of the brain, alleged the companies had reason to know the helmet was defective but failed to warn the public. In another report, the parents of a 16-year-old Westfield/Brocton football player in Little Valley, New York, collapsed during a game and died three days later of a brain injury in September 2013. The school district which their son’s team was playing against was named as a defendant because it did not have “medical personnel on hand who were capable of dealing with serious head injuries,” according to WGRZ.com.
[pe.com/articles/football-773324-sued-companies.html, Press Enterprise, July 14, 2015]
[wgrz.com/story/news/local/southern-tier/2014/11/03/damon-janes-dies-after-collapsing-during-game-in-september-2013/18408417/, WGRZ, November 3, 2014]