Recent fatalities attributed to heat
By Daily Bruin Staff
Aug. 5, 2001 9:00 p.m.
Warnings of overexposure to heat. SOURCE: Evi
Desser, Nurse Practitioner Original graphic by SEAN WATERS/Daily
Bruin Senior Staff Web adaptation by MIKE OUYANG/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff
By Joshua Mason
Daily Bruin Staff
A recent wave of football-related deaths has taken place on
preseason practice fields within the last two weeks, and the cause
of three of those occurrences has been attributed to heat-related
illnesses.
Minnesota Vikings tackle Korey Stringer, University of Florida
freshman running back Eraste Autin and Indiana’s Central
Clinton High junior Travis Stowers are believed to have died from
heat stroke complications. Stowers initially was reported to have
died of a brain aneurysm but recent reports suggest his temperature
reached 108 degrees.
Most recently, Rashidi Wheeler, a senior safety from
Northwestern University, died Friday night of what preliminary
coronary reports have attributed to bronchial asthma.
Wheeler’s asthma attack began during conditioning shuttle
drills.
“I don’t think it was the workout that was
extraordinarily difficult,” Northwestern head coach Randy
Walker told the Associated Press. “It probably was the
easiest day of summer workouts. There was no other running or any
other conditioning.”
University of Florida and Northwestern University officials have
both said they will investigate the circumstances and policies
related to the deaths at their campuses.
In each case, the athletes may have pushed themselves too hard
in the preseason, leading critics to say the NCAA should reassess
how they handle such training regimens.
This could be difficult in college athletics, particularly on
the football field, where players are often expected to play
through even the most severe of injuries.
“It’s like the old cliché,
“˜football’s a tough game played by tough
people,'” said Geoff Schaadt, UCLA’s director of
athletic training and rehabilitation. “They play with a lot
of injuries, so they’re used to playing through and not
feeling good most of the time. It’s a delicate balancing
process, and it’s very unfortunate when we hear stories about
the kinds of things we’ve heard the last few
weeks.”
Northwestern University athletic director Rick Taylor told AP
that the school will reevaluate its conditioning policies and the
entire incident “to find out if there is any possible way we
could have done something better.”
Though Southern California’s coastal weather is on the
cool side, Schaadt noted that it is not impossible for heat-related
illnesses to occur on the playing field.
“The fortunate thing for UCLA and most of the schools on
the West Coast is we don’t have the heat issues that they do
elsewhere,” Schaadt said. “Our heat index is typically
very low compared to other parts of the country because we
don’t get the humidity that everyone else does.”
Heat stroke, the condition that took the lives of Stringer,
Autin and Stowers, is the third stage of heat illness, and it
occurs when the body begins to shut its systems down due to
excessive core temperatures of 105.8 degrees or higher.
“Most cases of heat stroke occur when people ignore the
signs of heat exhaustion or heat cramps,” said Evi Desser, a
nurse practitioner at the Arthur Ashe Center. “And it’s
the athletes that weigh more that are at a higher risk for heat
stroke because they have more muscle mass and they can heat up
quicker.”
Because there already are precautions for handling heat-related
illnesses at major football programs, the recent incidents of heat
stroke has led many to conclude that there are no easy answers to
the problem.
At UCLA, there are procedures to hydrate and cool players
constantly in effect. Athletes are frequently hydrated with water
and Gatorade, ice-chilled towels are provided at games for
players’ heads and necks, and mist spraying fans are used
during games to keep the air around the players cooler.
“The most important way for us to spot a heat illness in
our athletes is by relying on them to communicate with us when
they’re having problems,” Schaadt said.
“We’re not mind-readers. We can watch, and we can
see.
“Clearly, you can see when someone is vomiting. You can
typically tell if they are disoriented, but there are many signs of
heat illness that are hard to detect without the athlete
communicating them to us.”
With reports from the Associated Press.
