Sad news

[Rockman]

His life might have been short-lived but Dominic James made a huge impact on the lives on many.

http://m.jamaicaobserver.com/mobile/...ic-James_76617

[Willi]

Children of a lesser god. Just like Colts and Pepsi and B-Ball and cricket and, and...

[Time]

The Government is to open a formal investigation into his death to see if there was any breech of their 'safety guidelines.' That head clash may pop up in the investigation however it appears that he died of a hard to detect medical cardio condition, no mention was made of a brain injury.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...hoolboys-death

[Islandman]

True, but Champs is the big finale.

Each week during track season there are multiple development meets across the island where these medical emergencies could happen.

[Time]

Issa just brokered a deal for all Manning and DCuppers to get one annually for $1500 ..a discounted price. What about other sports and also colts and Pepsi.

Manning cup in not more prone than these other sporting events.

Champs lucky...its all in one place.

aaahhh, champs, that is one of the places where a saw the JCCF cadets doing stretcher duty.

[Willi]

Issa just brokered a deal for all Manning and DCuppers to get one annually for $1500 ..a discounted price. What about other sports and also colts and Pepsi.

Manning cup in not more prone than these other sporting events.

Champs lucky...its all in one place.

[OJ]

Really sad. Agreed with most that stated. The EKG is a good idea. I don't see it implemented in USA or Canada but believe it's required in Italy. ne thing I would do and I am not alluding to anything but ban caffeine type sodas for athletes

[Time]

Some facts in this case:
There were 3 doctors there. 1 from StGC, one from XLCR and one from the stands. There were no defibs. The home side XLCR was responsible for med affairs at that match.

All StGC players get a med checkup at season start. Not sure about EKGs. Dominic DID indeed have an EKG while at JC for sure, as Ian Forbes said so on TV. He said nothing untowards was found. Dom was subbed after a head clash against Innswood in Sept 2015 and complained of headaches. I am sure he was checked out an missed 1 or 2 games. I now read that he also had a head clash with the Tarrrant GK in the Sat. match. Could these 2 head clashes be responsible?


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. AGREED.

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. THEY ARE ALREADY RESPONSIBLE AND ISSA IS NOW MANDATING STRETCHERS.

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

5. Some football fields must be banned from competition. AGREED

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. DONT AGREE. THEY JUST FORFEIT HOSTINGHOME GAMES...ALL AWAY GAMES.

7. As is the case now, ISSA will provide an ambulance at every 2nd round match. THIS IS NOT DONE. JAMAICA HAS ONLY A FEW AMBULANCES. WHAT ISSA DOES IS TRY TO GUARANTEE THAT AN AMBULANCE IS 10 TO 15 MINS AWAY. DONT FORGET THE REGULAR POPULATION IS IN NEED OF AMBULANCE SERVICES AND IT'S A FALSE ECONOMY TO COMMADEER THEM FOR A LOW PROBABILITY EVENT WHEN STATISTICALLY WE KNOW THAT SOME SH!T IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE GENERAL POPULATION WITH MUCH HIGHER PROBABILITY DURING THOSE 90 MINS.

The stretcher issue should be the easiest the solve because they are not expensive and they don't require a lot of expertise. The Jamaica Combined Cadet Force has certified first aid responders who are high school students and are used as stretcher bearers at major events.

If there are schools that don't have a team doctor or a staff nurse then they should ask the St John Association of Jamaica better known as the St John Ambulance for volunteers. The St John's people will also train and certify students and as first aid responders.

[Mosiah]

Agreed, Willi!

Basically, we need to do as much as we can without going overboard. This kind of event is not going to happen every day. There more likely incidents will involve concussions and broken bones.

[Willi]

No, sometimes the die is cast.

I think his issue was neurological and no simple screening would have caught it. He needed special attention based on the headclash of last year and last Sat.

What is ironic is that ISSA goofed and forgot to Schedule the Tarrant match originally. StGC played their first match on Thursday, despite some teams playing twice before then. To fix the goof, ISSA hastily scheduled the Tarrant match for Saturday last, but it meant that STGC would have to play 4 matches in 8 days!!!!

The cruel twist of fate is that Dom had a head clash from that Tarrant match on saturday, a match that SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN PLAYED. Thursday-Sat-Tuesday is a MAD Schedule!

[Willi]

120 TEAMS, 22 IN SQUAD ~jad$4M.

If we assume that the top 10 schools (all island) can fund their own, the bill drops to $3.7m.

[Willi]

Some facts in this case:
There were 3 doctors there. 1 from StGC, one from XLCR and one from the stands. There were no defibs. The home side XLCR was responsible for med affairs at that match.

All StGC players get a med checkup at season start. Not sure about EKGs. Dominic DID indeed have an EKG while at JC for sure, as Ian Forbes said so on TV. He said nothing untowards was found. Dom was subbed after a head clash against Innswood in Sept 2015 and complained of headaches. I am sure he was checked out an missed 1 or 2 games. I now read that he also had a head clash with the Tarrrant GK in the Sat. match. Could these 2 head clashes be responsible?


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. AGREED.

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. THEY ARE ALREADY RESPONSIBLE AND ISSA IS NOW MANDATING STRETCHERS.

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

5. Some football fields must be banned from competition. AGREED

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. DONT AGREE. THEY JUST FORFEIT HOSTINGHOME GAMES...ALL AWAY GAMES.

7. As is the case now, ISSA will provide an ambulance at every 2nd round match. THIS IS NOT DONE. JAMAICA HAS ONLY A FEW AMBULANCES. WHAT ISSA DOES IS TRY TO GUARANTEE THAT AN AMBULANCE IS 10 TO 15 MINS AWAY. DONT FORGET THE REGULAR POPULATION IS IN NEED OF AMBULANCE SERVICES AND IT'S A FALSE ECONOMY TO COMMADEER THEM FOR A LOW PROBABILITY EVENT WHEN STATISTICALLY WE KNOW THAT SOME SH!T IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE GENERAL POPULATION WITH MUCH HIGHER PROBABILITY DURING THOSE 90 MINS.

[Rockman]

All that failed,more is needed!

[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.]

[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.