Sad news

[Dunny]

St Georges captain Dominic James collapsed and died during their Manning Cup game this afternoon against Excelsior, condolences to his friends and family.RIP

[Peter R]

What?! Shocking news! Condolences to his family! RIP.

[Gamma]

2 weeks ago a 14 y o who played prep school football with my son had a heart attack and passed.... Man!

[Dunny]

http://jamaica-star.com/article/news...nning-cup-game

[Karl]

So sad!
Condolences to his family, friends and the StGC community.

[Gamma]

Only child

[Rudi]

Are these guys being pushed too hard for freeking High School football? Should their be mandetary testing for any congenital heart problems before the season starts. There are so many games now it's crazy. Manning cup is becoming like Texas high school American football. So sad.

[Rudi]

'there'. I freeking sad and mad.

[Lazie]

Really sad news! Condolences to his family and his school mates.

[Assasin]

Sad but I won't say that. Just this evening my aunt call me asking about a kid who died on the field here in Atlanta. Can't forget my center half Dwight Parish who left school and went home for a weekend and died playing a pickup game. He was a good friend and a good player from May Pen and nobody had any idea that Dwight was even having any problem.

Very sad news still.

[Mosiah]

Whenever a footballer dies on the field wherever in the world, it hits you the same way. The STGC player’s demise yesterday is close to home, so it hits a little harder.

I waited until this morning to say something about it because I may have said something stupid last night, especially after having seen TVJ News last night. I called Shola, one of our proud Georgians on the site and he filled me in on some facts.

I kinda lost it with Shola because STGC is one of the best run football programs in the country. A few months ago in preseason, I was present at one training session which ended with a masseuse and a masseur attending to players on professional massage tables. I have never seen that at any NPL club. Of course, that might not be a big deal for any decent US high school, but wi talking Jamaica here. So, if there is one school that would be prepared for anything, it would be Georges.

TVJ appeared to miss the fact that the team doctor was indeed present and another doctor was called from the stands to assist. Is a doctor present enough? Is there a defibrillator at hand? There was no stretcher to take the player off the field. This lifting by 5/6 people has got to stop.

Shola has assured me that all players from STGC do a medical. Is that enough? I remember decades ago when I played for my high school, the school nurse expressed her disappointment that none of us had done EKGs before starting such rigourous training programs. What can a medical reveal? Are all medicals the same?

TVJ interviewed Dr. Small, president of ISSA, and asked him what were the requirements on match day for each school? He said each school should have a doctor present or at least a nurse. Ambulances for 1st round matches are not required, I guess because the sheer number and cost would render that prohibitive. Dr. Small said for the 2nd round, ISSA takes over the running of the competitions (Manning and daCosta) and that when ambulances would be present at matches where they try to do double headers for efficiency.

However, when asked what are the plans for the competitions going forward, Dr. Small said the daCosta Cup competiton will continue and during the course of today, they will decide about the Manning Cup. Really? In his ramble, it seems he was saying it will also continue but perhaps there would be a suspension of some matches as they make a decision. There are some matches scheduled for today.

Can someone tell me the difference between daCosta and Manning Cup competitions? There really is none. St. Catherine High plays Manning Cup, while Old Harbour High, maybe 10 minutes away, plays D-Cup. What happened yesterday could have happened in Alexandria, St. Ann. How close is the nearest medical facility? What are the likelihoods of a doctor or nurse being present at these matches? I know at Munro College, the time to remove a player from the field into a private car hemmed in by buses from all over the parish would be insane!

The best plans may not have saved Dominic James yesterday, but the best possible plans must be implemented for all sporting competitions in Jamaica.

Here are my recommendations:

1. All student-athletes must have at least a full medical before beginning any training regimen for any sport. ISSA’s medical department will stipulate the minimum requirements of the medical. Where possible, EKGs are strongly recommended.

2. Parents/guardians must be informed of the results of the medical and sign off on them.

3. The hosting school is responsible for all medical emergencies during the match. Therefore, the school must have present, at least a nurse of a certain competence, equipped with first-aid kit and basic life-saving equipment. The first-aid kit would have more than Tylenol and Band-aid, but bandage scissors, tongue depressors, etc. Defibrillators are ideal, but may be beyond our schools ability to procure.

4. At least one stretcher should be available, with competent staff.

5. Some football fields must be banned from competition.

6. If the school is unable to provide the required medical staff, stretcher and a half-decent field, the school will not be allowed to participate in the competition.

7. As is the case now, ISSA will provide an ambulance at every 2nd round match.

Reggaedoc and others, your views are always welcome as I am not really a medical doctor, you may have discerned.

My deepest condolences to the STGC community and the entire football fraternity in Jamaica.

[Mosiah]

I have a couple of updates:

1. All STGC players had full medicals, including EKGs, at the start of the season.

2.Last year, Dominic suffered a concussion but did a CT scan that indicated he was normal.

3. The Heart Assoc had offered to do EKG on athletes @$1500 per person. Dr Small now says that ISSA will take up the offer.

Thanks Shola and Time!

[Islandman]

All you have said here makes sense. I suspect that it will be a stretch for some schools to come up with even the basics you have mentioned as this would apply for every sport, not just football. The first aid kit is doable, but medical staff for each school team sounds very challenging. Maybe some pooling of resources could be done when necessary.

The lifting of the youngster off the field without a stretcher was not a good look at all. One would think that there are many injuries where just doing that could have made a bad situation worse.

[Islandman]

Some further comments from ISSA president:

“As it relates to the medical protocol [for] all schools you cannot have a match unless there is a school nurse or a doctor. In terms of the presence of ambulance, because of the volume of games that are being played, even if we are to get all the ambulances in Jamaica, we would not be able to cover [all],” Dr Small explained.

“So what we have asked the schools to do is make arrangement with the nearest medical facility so in case of emergency we have indicated to our principals that there should be a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes of getting any ambulance or vehicle to hospital,” he said.

According to the president, who is also the principal of Wolmer’s Boys’ School, ISSA is responsible for providing medical assistance when the competition reaches the second round and games are played at venues provided by them.

“We ensure that in the second round there are ambulances as well as the business of the stretchers available to take the injured players from the field. Going forward [we]will insist now that all schools be equipped with stretchers,” said Dr Small.]

[Rockman]

All that failed,more is needed!