NCAA, athletic trainers seek ways to stop fatal chest blows

By Hank Lowenkron
ASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIANAPOLIS — The death of a Cornell lacrosse player brought together a group of doctors, athletic trainers, manufacturers and others Monday to discuss ways to decrease the risk of chest injuries and how to treat them.

George Bolardi died in March 2004 when a ball hit him in the chest during a lacrosse match. He was one of 21 college athletes to die as a result of on-field injuries since 1982, according to data provided by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury at the University of North Carolina.

Many deaths were the result of a blunt blow to the chest from an object, known medically as commotio cordis.

A group of about 25 people met for eight hours at NCAA Headquarters, sharing methods to help improve medical services to athletes of all ages. No specific action was taken, but the general opinion was the groups needed to work to further educate participants, coaches and athletic staff on ways to lower the risks of deaths and serious injuries through sports.

Summit participants included representatives from US Lacrosse, the National Federation of State High Schools Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, the NCAA and National Athletic Trainers Association.

Dr. Mark Link, a cardiologist and director of the Center for Evaluation of Athletes at Tufts-New England Medical Center, showed the group how quickly a victim can die in a video of a 14-year-old boy who passed out on a mat as he was struck in the chest at the start of a karate match.

Link said there are probably 10 to 20 cases per year of commotio cordis. Ninety-six percent of the victims are male 14 to 20 years old, he said.

Named as high-risk sports for the often fatal injury were baseball, ice hockey, lacrosse and football.

"The NCAA is interested in reducing the incident of this catastrophic injury, and by working together we hope to take one step closer to that goal," said David Klossner, NCAA assistant director of education outreach.

Some advocated better protection for the area of the heart subject to blunt force injury, but Link said his studies indicate that "currently available chest wall protectors are inadequate."

Jerry Weber, head athletic trainer for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, told participants that while he believed blunt-force injuries were serious, he also called for the "need to get trainers, coaches and athletes to be better educated on aspects of treating all cardiac incidents."

Among the recommendations were having coaches and athletes learn preventive care and CPR. Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, director of cardiology at Indiana University, recommended that all high schools have an automated external defibrillator available. However, the cost of each is about $1,500, and some participants considered the expense prohibitive.

And Steven Stenersen, executive director of US Lacrosse, cautioned against overreacting to "a low-incident injury."

Stenersen cited a move by a member of American Society Testing and Materials to protect lacrosse participants with a barrel-like protective devise that would cover their entire body.

Published on August 1, 2005