Preventing Death in Youth Sports Discussed at Recent Safety Summit

The third Youth Sports Safety Summit was held in Washington on December 6.  Hosted by the National Athletic Trainers Association, the summit hoped to provide additional medical insights, case histories, and a call to action to improve the care of young athletes.

Health care professionals specifically addressed youth sports injuries and medical emergencies at this year’s summit, “Preventing Sudden Death in Youth Sports”.  Topics discussed included concussion and brain injury, exercise-induced asthma, sudden cardiac arrest, heat illness, and exertional sickling prevention and treatment. 

The January 2012 issue of the Journal of Athletic Training will have the position statement “Preventing Sudden Death in Sports,” which was also pre-released at the summit.

Presenting the position statement are Kevin Guskiewicz, PhD, ATC, a Kenan Distinguished Professor and founding director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center and the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Douglas J. Casa, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education, professor in the Department of Kinesiology, and chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute.

The Youth Sports Safety Alliance is comprised of 60 health care and sports organizations.  They work together to collectively seek increased education, research and legislation to protect young athletes.

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