Are medical staff available for high school football games in Stanislaus County?
The cardiac emergency suffered by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, watched by millions of TV viewers Monday night, draws attention to the risks at all levels of the violent contact sport.
After he collapsed on the field, Hamlin received immediate attention and CPR from trained personnel to save his life. Hamlin was taken to a Cincinnati hospital, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday.
The first-quarter incident, leading to postponement of the Monday Night Football game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, naturally raises questions about the presence of medical personnel at the high school football games played in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
Officials with Modesto City Schools were quick Tuesday to point out that high school gridiron clashes in the school district never start before medical personnel are in place.
“For us watching that NFL game last night, it is the health and safety of the athletes that is foremost on all our minds on Friday nights,” said James Davis, athletic director for Gregori High School. “I have never dealt with something like that (a catastrophic injury) in my 17 years as an athletic director.”
An MCS spokesperson said Tuesday that the district has a contract with a firm called Medics Plus to provide emergency medical services at football games at Modesto high schools. Under the contract, Medics Plus provides two emergency medical technicians and an automated external defibrillator in case a player has cardiac issues.
Other basic life support equipment also is on hand. In addition, all district athletic coaches must be certified in CPR and first aid, according to the education code.
Hamlin was injured while tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. The receiver led with his shoulder, striking Hamlin in the chest. Hamlin got up from the field and collapsed a few seconds later.
In a 1:25 p.m. update Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills said Hamlin remained in an intensive care unit, in critical condition, at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
A CapRadio news report in February 2017 discovered uneven medical-service coverage at high school football games in California. Some schools required medical staff at games and some did not, the report found. And that was before health care systems were stretched thin by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mike Garrison, commissioner for the Sac-Joaquin Section of the California Interscholastic Federation, said the CIF hires certified athletic trainers for championship football events and has access to AED defibrillators.
Garrison said that providing medical services for regular season games is left up to local school districts.
“When I was a high school principal and athletic director, I made sure we had (medical personnel) at football games and wrestling matches because they are contact sports,” Garrison said.
He said the CIF section guidelines followed by high schools are worded to say the host team “shall endeavor” to have medical services available at football games, but “shall endeavor” does not mean a requirement.
He noted that schools have automated external defibrillators on campuses to meet safety policies.
Modesto City Schools said an athletic trainer provided by California Rehabilitation is also part of the medical staff at football games, in addition to EMTs. “In most cases, a physician from Doctors Medical Center is there,” the district statement added.
Years ago, spectators would inevitably see an ambulance and crew parked inside the stadium for local football games, Davis said. But it’s not such a common sight these days.
In an emergency, the EMTs at Modesto games will attend to a player with a serious injury, while an ambulance is called to transport the player to the hospital, MCS said. If it’s not a life-threatening emergency, parents can decline ambulance transport and take the student-athlete to the hospital.
“The majority of our schools do a good job making sure medical services are available for games,” Garrison said. “It’s almost better to have a doctor there because they can evaluate what’s going on with the player.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 3:32 PM.
