Preventing Death from Heat Illness in Athletes
With Careful Monitoring, Heat-related Death are Preventable
Sep 22, 2009
Having a young athlete die from heat illness is a tragedy that no family should have to endure. Max Gilpin died last August from heat illness after his body temperature reached 107 degrees during a practice.
The indictment of Gilpin’s coach brought national attention to this case. Although Stinson was acquitted of all charges related to Gilpin’s death, there are lessons that need to be learned from this tragedy.
One lesson is that there needs to be a much greater awareness of the recognition, prevention, and treatment of heat illness by coaches at all levels.
Published Resources for the Prevention of Exertional Heat Illnesses
There are good resources available to educate coaches and administrators about how to recognize and prevent heat-related illness. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) publishes position statements on health and safety on their website. These are statements written by sports medicine professionals.
Progressive Stages of Heat-Related Illness
The NATA’s position statement on Exertional Heat Illnesses should be mandatory reading for all high school, college, and youth sports coaches. The statement provides important guidelines on the definitions of the progressive stages of heat illness (heat cramps, heat syncope, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, exertional hyponatremia) along with a comprehensive list of recommendations for the prevention and treatment of heat illness.
One important concept to understand in the recognition of heat illness is that it is a progressive illness with initial signs and symptoms usually starting relatively mild (muscle cramps) and then progressing through to the end stages if the illness is not recognized and treatment provided.
An athlete can progress through the stages of heat illness over several days. If heat illness is recognized and treatment provided in the early stages, the athlete will recover very quickly. However, if the signs and symptoms of early stage heat illness are not recognized, the athlete could be at risk for moving through the stages to organ failure and even death.
This concept puts some responsibility on the coaches to pay careful attention to their athletes before, during, and after practice. An athlete who exhibits muscle cramping (usually in the lower extremities) may be in the early stages of heat illness. These athletes need to be cooled, rested, and rehydrated.
An athlete who exhibits signs of fever, dizziness, and headache may be suffering from heat exhaustion and may need immediate medical treatment including hydration and cooling.
An athlete with a core body temperature of over 104 degrees may be moving into heat stroke and be at risk for organ system failure due to hyperthermia (over heating). This athlete will need immediate cooling and medical intervention to save his/her life.
Prevention of Heat-Related Illness
A number of recommendations are provided in the NATA’s Exertional Heat Illnesses position statement including:
- Ensuring that proper medical care is available on-site
- Identifying at-risk athletes through preparticipation physical exams
- Adapting athletes to exercise gradually over 10-14 days
- Educating both athletes and coaches as to the recognition, prevention, and treatment of heat illness and the risks with exercising in hot, humid conditions
- Educating athletes to match fluid intake with sweat loss and to maintain less than a 2% body-weight
- Developing event and practice guidelines for hot, humid conditions
- Planning rest breaks to match the environmental conditions and the intensity of the activity
- Providing an adequate supply of proper fluids (water or sports drinks) to maintain hydration
- Weighing athletes before and after practice to estimate amount of fluids lost during practice/competition to ensure a return to prepractice weight before the next practice
- Minimizing the amount of equipment and clothing worn by the athlete in hot and/or humid conditions
Adequate precautions, rest, and hydration will keep athletes safe from the life-threatening stages of heat-related illness.
 |
