The NCAA News - News and Features
The NCAA News -- February 1, 1999
Competitive-safeguards committee begins review of medical-care survey
The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, meeting January 18-19 in Kansas City, Missouri, identified several areas of concern as it began analysis of the recently concluded NCAA survey of emergency medical care coverage.
The survey was developed to assess current emergency medical care and supervision procedures at NCAA member institutions for practices, skill instruction, strength training and intercollegiate competitions and scrimmages during both the regular and nontraditional seasons in a variety of sports.
Appropriate emergency medical care and supervision guidelines for practices and competitions in all sports are included in the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook and have been incorporated into the Division I Athletics Certification Self-Study Instrument and the Divisions II and III Institutional Self-Study Guides.
One component of the guideline includes that someone qualified and delegated to render emergency care should be present for all practice and game activities, including strength training, skill instruction and out-of-season practices and scrimmages.
Survey results indicate that compliance is at or near 100 percent in all divisions for most of the surveyed sports during traditional season practices and games. The exception in this category is men's and women's cross country and track and field.
However, compliance figures drop significantly for other regular-season activities and nontraditional practices and scrimmages. For example, fewer than 50 percent of schools that responded had qualified emergency-care personnel present at strength and conditioning or skill-instruction workouts for most of the surveyed sports.
In addition, emergency-care coverage at out-of-season practices and scrimmages was significantly lower than what occurred during the regular season.
CPR guidelines
Another portion of the guideline urges certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques for all athletics personnel associated with practices, competitions, strength and conditioning workouts, and skill instruction.
Results from the survey indicate that compliance with this guideline is generally less than 50 percent in all divisions for all sports except wrestling.
The figure rose to 62 percent in wrestling, due in part to a rule passed in 1998 requiring all coaches to be certified in CPR. Nonetheless, the committee noted its disappointment in that figure given the adopted rule.
The committee agreed to review the survey data further. It also will develop points of emphasis regarding institutions' emergency medical plans for various audiences (athletics directors, coaches, sports medicine staffs).
Other actions
At its January meeting, the competitive-safeguards committee also:
Reviewed but did not endorse the full report of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine-sponsored concussion workshop. The committee, however, was supportive of the report's final recommendations.
Requested an additional committee member, who would specialize in drug-education initiatives. Noted that such a position would be consistent with the committee's charge.
Recommended Dr. Bryan Smith, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to represent the committee on the NCAA Executive Committee-created panel of independent experts to study risk and game integrity issues in college baseball.
Reviewed and endorsed the commitment to student-athlete health and safety in the 1999-2000 Division I Athletics Certification Self-Study Instrument.
Recommended the issuance of two medical credentials for each team's sports medicine staffs at NCAA championships.
Recognized the need to educate the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics on several issues, including emergency medical care, eating disorders and the use of supplements.
Reviewed the upcoming participation of committee members and/or NCAA staff at meetings of the American College of Sports Medicine and its creatine roundtable, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, the National Athletic Trainers' Association, the Inter-Association Spine Task Force, and the Joint Commission on Sports Medicine and Science.
Actions regarding drug testing
The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports took the following actions as a result of the discussions of its drug-education/drug-testing subcommittee:
Directed NCAA staff to report at the committee's June meeting on ways of integrating minimum requirements for drug-education and drug-testing procedures into the NCAA's Division I Athletics Certification Self-Study Instrument and the Divisions II and III Institutional Self-Study Guides.
Heard a presentation by Dr. Linn Goldberg, University of Oregon Health Sciences, on the Atlas (Athletes Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids) program currently being offered on the high-school level. Directed NCAA staff to contact Goldberg about possible Atlas pilot programs in colleges.
Affirmed the full committee's recommendation regarding muscle/strength-building supplement legislation in Division I.
Heard two presentations regarding evaluation of the NCAA Drug-Testing Program. Asked NCAA staff to pursue discussions with Bensinger, DuPont and Associates, and to report at the June meeting on a revised budget and timetable.
Reviewed an alert regarding gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in Texas and agreed to alert the NCAA membership regarding the situation.
Affirmed its commitment to expansion of the year-round drug-testing program. Currently, year-round testing involves Divisions I and II football and Division I track and field. The desire is to expand the program to Division I men's and women's swimming and diving, and Division I baseball. The committee agreed to discuss a revised timetable at its June meeting with the understanding of the effect of a flat budget and staff transition.
Supported new protocol for partial specimen collection. When finalized, it will no longer be necessary to discard a low-volume specimen when a student-athlete needs to leave a drug-testing site.
Expressed concern about reductions in drug-education public-service announcements (PSAs) during NCAA championships. Directed NCAA staff to draft a letter from committee chair William F. Arnet, University of Missouri, Columbia, and Dr. Gary Alan Green, University of California, Los Angeles, to the NCAA addressing the committee's concern and the need for drug-education PSAs to be included in the rotation.
Expressed concern about tobacco usage during the recent football bowl games. Began to explore the possibility of educational efforts with the American Football Coaches Association.
Sports sciences safety
The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports took the following actions as a result of the discussions of its sports sciences safety subcommittee:
Endorsed the NCAA Research Committee's pursuit of legislation allowing student-athletes to be compensated for their participation in research studies, when appropriate. Emphasized the necessity of oversight, especially on studies that were not sponsored by the NCAA.
Approved funding of $4,000 to Randy Clark, University of Wisconsin, Madison, to validate body-composition formulas used in the current wrestling weight-certification program on African-American athletes.
Recommended funding of three proposals for establishing objective return-to-play criteria following concussions: $40,000 to Drs. Kevin Guskiewicz and Michael McCrea, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; $8,000 to Drs. Michael Collins and Mark Lovell, Henry Ford Behavioral Services; and $2,000 to Dr. James Puffer, University of California, Los Angeles.
Recommended requesting $100,000 from the NCAA Research Committee for external sports science research on the following topics during the 1999-2000 fiscal year: wrestling; catastrophic injury; creatine; a video review of anterior cruciate ligament injuries; and evaluation of the Injury Surveillance System (ISS).
Recommended that the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committees provide input on how better to disseminate information from the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook to student-athletes.
Noted that the complete Sports Medicine Handbook is available on the NCAA Web site at www.ncaa.org/sports_sciences/sports_med_handbook/.
Assigned 10 of the Sports Medicine Handbook guidelines for their five-year review.
Considered recommended modifications of the ISS for football, and decided not to endorse any changes until the three-year spring football analysis is complete.
Reviewed a recent case of a professional ice hockey player losing an eye, and reiterated its support of maintaining full face protection in the sport.
Endorsed the decision of the NCAA Softball Committee to require protective helmets for catchers.
Reviewed and approved NCAA sponsorship of the 1998 National Eating Disorders Screening Program, and recommended future support due to the significant influence and participation of student-athletes in the program.
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