Emergency Care
September 7, 2012
As stated in our last posting, preparticipation physical examinations are imperative; but their practical limitations will not permit every heart defect to be discovered prior to participation.
So if sudden cardiac arrest is not 100 percent preventable within the modest means of school sports, the following measures represent the standard that parents would expect – reasonable or not – for the children they put in the care of those administering school sports:
1. There should always be a staff person nearby who holds current certification in CPR.
2. There should always be an AED nearby and in working order, and a staff person nearby who has demonstrated proficiency in its use.
3. There should always be an emergency plan in place with which coaches and trainers are familiar because they not only were presented it, they also practiced it.
Time is of the essence when sudden cardiac arrest occurs; and these three measures combine to deliver competent care quickly.
Unjustified
December 11, 2015
The MHSAA has taken some unjustified criticism about the last-minute cancellation or relocation of several boys basketball games scheduled for the University of Detroit-Mercy earlier this week.
Unjustified because we would have liked the event to have been successful for our schools involved and a venue (Calihan Hall) we use often for MHSAA events.
Unjustified because the failure to follow interstate sanctioning rules was not our fault.
Unjustified because those who were in charge failed to respond to several outreaches well in advance of the event that were intended to inform or remind the organizers to seek and obtain proper approvals.
Unjustified because those approvals are a required part of the sanctioning policies and procedures of the national organization to which we belong, and which applied as much to the out-of-state schools as to our own.
Unjustified because critics now blame the problem on travel distance restrictions, which was not the issue at all. The travel was well within the generous limitations that exist.
What was at issue was the requirement that interstate events that are sponsored or co-sponsored by entities other than member schools must have the prior approval of each of the state high school associations involved, as well as the approval of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). This flows from the original purpose of the NFHS which was to bring accountability to interstate events at the high school level operated by colleges and commercial organizations.
We expect our schools to follow established rules of their state association, and we try to model that expectation by following the rules that apply to the MHSAA within its national organization.