Heat Stroke Deaths in Football 'All Preventable'
The case could signal a landmark shift in the expectation for how coaches deal with struggling players on a hot day.
Gilpin's body temperature was 107 degrees when he reached the
hospital and he died three days later from heat stroke. The risks of
heat-related diseases to athletes, both young and old, are always
present but the warning signs are often hidden.
Since
1995, 33 football players have died from heat stroke, according to an
annual report from the University of North Carolina. Frederick O.
Mueller, professor of exercise and sports science at UNC and the author
of the report, calls the figure unacceptable.
"There's no excuse for any number of heat stroke deaths, since they are all preventable with the proper precautions," Mueller said.
Wake-up call
The wake-up call has been
delivered to all coaches. They must be able to recognize a struggling
player and resist the assumption that they're just being lazy. Dave
Stengel, the prosecuting attorney in the Stinson case, described the
coach's responsibility: "This is not about football. This is not about
coaches," he said. "It's about a trained adult who was in charge of the
health and welfare of a child."
Heat stroke is the most serious of the four levels of heat illness.
Progressing from dehydration to heat cramps to heat exhaustion without
intervention may lead to heat stroke where the core body temperature
exceeds 104 degrees.
Since the common symptoms (nausea, incoherence, fatigue, weakness, vomiting, muscle cramps) of heat exhaustion and heat stroke are similar, it can be hard to tell when a player has crossed that dangerous line. That is why most medical professionals recommend a proactive approach to playing in the heat. Slow acclimation to the heat over several days, planned and regular water breaks, and reduced activity when the heat index rises will help prevent problems.
The National Athletic Trainers Association has published guidelines for parents and coaches to follow.
What happens
In a 2008 study,
researchers explored the complex interactions in the human body when
subjected to high heat and high levels of physical activity. José
González-Alonso, Professor of Sport and Exercise Physiology at Brunel
University, and his team looked at the competing demands for blood flow
that heat and exercise cause and the physiological breakdown that
eventually occurs.
Our bodies actually gain heat from both the environment and our own
muscle movement. When the air temperature is greater than our skin
temperature, heat will be transferred into our body. When we exercise,
our contracting muscles also produce heat. In fact, about 75 percent of
the energy expended is lost to heat rather than power.
To cool ourselves down, two processes must take place: increased blood flow to the skin, and sweating.
The evaporation of sweat to the air pulls heat away from the body. One kilogram of sweat evaporated from the skin will remove 580 kilocalories of heat from the body. If fluids are not replenished by drinking water, the sweating process slows down and the core body temperature rises.
Effects on body and brain
When running
sprints on a football field in the heat, a player's heart needs to do
double-duty; pumping blood to his muscles and to the skin.
González-Alonso found that the heart will serve the metabolic demands
of the muscles first, allowing the skin blood flow to diminish, which
raises body temperature.
The study also found that fatigue is not a result of tired muscles, but rather from an increase in brain temperature.
As a safety valve, the brain sends signals of fatigue that lower our
drive to keep going. If forced to continue by an over demanding coach,
the downward spiral will continue.
If the player does collapse, immediate attention is the key to survival.
Dan Peterson writes about sports science at his site Sports Are 80 Percent Mental.









