High School Football Tragedy

[The Cincinnati Kid]

http://www.wlox.com/story/15431061/diberville-player-rushed-to-hospital

 

Such a heartbreak for anyone. I cannot imagine what his family and friends must be feeling. My thoughts and prayers are headed in their directions.

[GOBILLS78]

That is very sad. It is a shame there was no ambulance on site. Here in NC teams cant play a down without an on-site ambulance, and if one is in the process of transporting someone from the game, the teams have to wait until a second vehicle arrives before resuming. Hate to hear about tragedies like these.

[Rumblinstumblin]

Seems like one happens every week

[Chandler#81]

That is very sad. It is a shame there was no ambulance on site. Here in NC teams cant play a down without an on-site ambulance, and if one is in the process of transporting someone from the game, the teams have to wait until a second vehicle arrives before resuming. Hate to hear about tragedies like these.

 

 

Same goes for Little League Football and I believe it's the same everywhere. It's a violent game and players get hurt.

 

I can't understand this..

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

Same goes for Little League Football and I believe it's the same everywhere. It's a violent game and players get hurt.

 

I can't understand this..

 

 

Without wanting to get political, I would be willing to bet that it was a simple question of money. It costs the school district to keep an ambulance on call. Saved a few bucks, and cost a life.

[Chandler#81]

Without wanting to get political, I would be willing to bet that it was a simple question of money. It costs the school district to keep an ambulance on call. Saved a few bucks, and cost a life.

 

Sure! But what's the cost? A C-note, max? They charge @ the gate to see the games. If they can uniform the players, cheerleaders & Band, there's no logical reason they won't spend for this.

 

I think it's criminal neglect -no political inference intended.

[cmjoyce113]

In section v The only time I have seen an ambulance on site is during sectional/state playoffs. I am not sure the reasoning but I would think it's necceaary to have one at all times.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

Sure! But what's the cost? A C-note, max? They charge @ the gate to see the games. If they can uniform the players, cheerleaders & Band, there's no logical reason they won't spend for this.

 

I think it's criminal neglect -no political inference intended.

 

Oh, you will get no argument from me, Chandler. But considering that most school districts in Mississippi have a hard time keeping up with textbooks, facilities, etc., this is sadly not as surprising as it should be. One can hope it will be a wake-up call for administrators, but who knows?

[NoSaint]

Without wanting to get political, I would be willing to bet that it was a simple question of money. It costs the school district to keep an ambulance on call. Saved a few bucks, and cost a life.

 

Might be a little aggressive in that statement. Not saying it's untrue, but it's certainly a jump based on that article. Would an ambulance save him? Who knows. Why wasn't one there? Logical guess.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

Might be a little aggressive in that statement. Not saying it's untrue, but it's certainly a jump based on that article. Would an ambulance save him? Who knows. Why wasn't one there? Logical guess.

 

 

Quite so, NoSaint. I don't know if an ambulance would have saved him, and am only guessing why one was not there, though I fear it is a logical guess.

[gobillsinytown]

Unfortunately, it takes events like this to get the laws changed. I would imagine there will be a new law on the book requiring an ambulance at all football games in Mississippi soon. Sad that it has to happen this way.

[GOBILLS78]

In section v The only time I have seen an ambulance on site is during sectional/state playoffs. I am not sure the reasoning but I would think it's necceaary to have one at all times.

 

That's interesting. In Section VI, we always had an ambulance on site for home games, and it seems like there was always one at away games as well. I'm certain about home games though. Then again, this was the late '90s, so it might have changed since I moved away.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Quite so, NoSaint. I don't know if an ambulance would have saved him, and am only guessing why one was not there, though I fear it is a logical guess.

 

Yes, you're right that it's an issue of economy at root. Perhaps not as we city dwellers would think of it though.

Let's put some context around this. Look at how long the ambulance took to arrive. Let's think about the locale here.

 

D'Iberville MS is a "city" of <10,000 people. It is near the Gulf coast and was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, meaning it likely has not rebuilt its pre-Katrina infrastructure completely.

It is likely struggling economically, as is that entire region. It is near Biloxi, which has a population of 50,000. The closest city >200,000 population is New Orleans, 77 miles away.

 

It is quite likely that the ambulance is not staffed 24/7 in a city of that size and the paramedics had to be called out, or an ambulance dispatched from Biloxi, across the Back Bay - Google says it's a 9 minute drive from Biloxi Regional Medical Center. It's not clear what level of service Biloxi Regional Medical Center might have - but it's a good guess that there weren't a bunch of neurosurgical specialists on call, and quite likely not on staff. With luck, they are big enough to have actually had a physician staffing the ER.

 

If an ambulance was at the game, it would quite likely be one of a handful of available ambulances, meaning it would be further from other folks who might need help.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is maybe we should "get the flick" on the area and its resources before getting too judgy? The picture is likely not one of a "cheap" school district charging for the game but too cheap to retain an ambulance. It's more likely an issue of the population density of the local region and its overall economy and available resources.

 

Unfortunately, it takes events like this to get the laws changed. I would imagine there will be a new law on the book requiring an ambulance at all football games in Mississippi soon. Sad that it has to happen this way.

 

This is a tragedy. It is also a relatively rare event. How many HS football games are played every Friday? How many life-threatening injuries occur?

 

I hope you are incorrect about laws being changed as a result of this. If such a law were passed, it would either:

1) likely make it impossible for a lot of football games in small towns from economically sparse regions

2) put the only ambulance in a lot of places further away from other people who might need it, and cost other lives.

 

Folks, the Northeast is just not typical of the level of infrastructure and availability of services in much of our country. I could drive 120 miles from St Louis and take you into places where the level of medical care available would likely shock you - and be very similar to what the level of care likely is on the Mississippi Gulf.

 

Do we propose these kids can't enjoy playing football now 'cuz you not only need pads and cleats, you need an ambulance on call at each game when there's only one (or maybe none) in the county and perhaps it's staffed by volunteer firefighters who work day jobs and pitch in after hours from a sense of public service?

 

Would this really make sense?

[Chandler#81]

Yes, you're right that it's an issue of economy at root. Perhaps not as we city dwellers would think of it though.

Let's put some context around this. Look at how long the ambulance took to arrive. Let's think about the locale here.

 

D'Iberville MS is a "city" of <10,000 people. It is near the Gulf coast and was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, meaning it likely has not rebuilt its pre-Katrina infrastructure completely.

It is likely struggling economically, as is that entire region. It is near Biloxi, which has a population of 50,000. The closest city >200,000 population is New Orleans, 77 miles away.

 

It is quite likely that the ambulance is not staffed 24/7 in a city of that size and the paramedics had to be called out, or an ambulance dispatched from Biloxi, across the Back Bay - Google says it's a 9 minute drive from Biloxi Regional Medical Center. It's not clear what level of service Biloxi Regional Medical Center might have - but it's a good guess that there weren't a bunch of neurosurgical specialists on call, and quite likely not on staff. With luck, they are big enough to have actually had a physician staffing the ER.

 

If an ambulance was at the game, it would quite likely be one of a handful of available ambulances, meaning it would be further from other folks who might need help.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is maybe we should "get the flick" on the area and its resources before getting too judgy? The picture is likely not one of a "cheap" school district charging for the game but too cheap to retain an ambulance. It's more likely an issue of the population density of the local region and its overall economy and available resources.

 

 

 

This is a tragedy. It is also a relatively rare event. How many HS football games are played every Friday? How many life-threatening injuries occur?

 

I hope you are incorrect about laws being changed as a result of this. If such a law were passed, it would either:

1) likely make it impossible for a lot of football games in small towns from economically sparse regions

2) put the only ambulance in a lot of places further away from other people who might need it, and cost other lives.

 

Folks, the Northeast is just not typical of the level of infrastructure and availability of services in much of our country. I could drive 120 miles from St Louis and take you into places where the level of medical care available would likely shock you - and be very similar to what the level of care likely is on the Mississippi Gulf.

 

Do we propose these kids can't enjoy playing football now 'cuz you not only need pads and cleats, you need an ambulance on call at each game when there's only one (or maybe none) in the county and perhaps it's staffed by volunteer firefighters who work day jobs and pitch in after hours from a sense of public service?

 

Would this really make sense?

 

I'm guessing a minimum of 1 in every city in the U.S.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

Hopeful, I certainly get your point about facilities in the poorer sections of the country, and don't think we disagree. Actually, I had kept my comments short and made no references to the poverty of rural Mississippi because I did not want to be accused of being a snooty Yankee making assumptions about life in the south. Damned if you do.... etc. etc.

 

Since you opened the door, though, I will say this. The point is not that people there or in any number of rural areas in the South are cheap, but that the public facilities in places like rural mississippi are woefully, even criminally inadequate and underfunded because of the generalized poverty. Having lived in the rural South for a time, I have an idea what the high schools involved in this football game probably looked like, as well as the local medical facilities. And as an American, it pains me deeply to think that my fellow citizens in what is the richest country in the world are expected to make do with such substandard sources.

 

It may very well be that no amount of medical response could have saved that unfortunate young man anyway.

 

As for your last question, considering that football is a violent game, and people get hurt, I do think it makes perfect sense for there to be at least an EMT with a first aid kit, it not an ambulance at every stadium. If a school district or a town says they cannot afford that, then they need to ask whether they can afford to play football.

[Jim in Anchorage]

Sure! But what's the cost? A C-note, max? They charge @ the gate to see the games. If they can uniform the players, cheerleaders & Band, there's no logical reason they won't spend for this.

 

I think it's criminal neglect -no political inference intended.

To keep a ambulance and paramedic on site for 3 hours? Lucky to keep a cab there for that price.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Might be a little aggressive in that statement. Not saying it's untrue, but it's certainly a jump based on that article. Would an ambulance save him? Who knows. Why wasn't one there? Logical guess.

 

At least an AED on site... A much better aid in administering manual CPR/M2M... Yet, those (AED's) can run into the 1,000's and they have to be maintained.

 

To keep a ambulance and paramedic on site for 3 hours? Lucky to keep a cab there for that price.

 

 

That is what I was thinking...

[NoSaint]

At least an AED on site... A much better aid in administering manual CPR/M2M... Yet, those (AED's) can run into the 1,000's and they have to be maintained.

 

 

 

 

That is what I was thinking...

 

im not implying that safety isnt important, but i am saying its entirely too vague of a situation to affix blame on someone. from the article i read, for all we know, this could be a death that wouldnt have been prevented if he had been sitting at the hosptital itself - as of this morning, i didnt read a solid cause of death.

 

if some simple precautions could have prevented it, then shame on the school. either way, hopefully they learn and review their safety procedures going forward in a manner that can provide the opportunity to participate, and optimize safety in parameters that make sense in that community.

[boyst]

The article said there was an onsite ambulance there, did ya'll miss that???

I really hope this is not a case of a football injury or anything related to the sport to give it a black eye. Cheerleading is much more dangerous.

 

When I played in JH we did not have anything, in HS we did (96-00).

[C.Biscuit97]

I think we should up our spending on the military and further cut back on school spending. It's working out really well.