Be Careful of Heat-Related Sports Illnesses |
Shulamit Shvartsman for Lawyers.comsm
- The coach was aquitted of all charges in 2009
- A high school football coach has been charged with reckless homicide after a sophomore died from a heat-related illness during practice
- This is the first such criminal charge against a high school coach in the United States
- There were six heat-related deaths in high school and college athletics in 2008
- Make sure that student-athletes know that if they're already not feeling well, speak up, take a break from practice and be sure to drink plenty of liquids
Spring and summer months bring outdoor training for many school sports teams begin to train this month for outside sports such as baseball or track. However, school athletics may need to update their practice schedules because of the heat. Not long ago, a high school student in Louisville died from heat stroke in football practice, sparking up many questions about the responsibility of coaches and schools.
It's not just school sports teams needing to stay hydrated during high activity during warm - and HOT - weather. Be sure if you're outside walking, jogging or playing frisbee at the beach, that you take along enough water to keep yourself in tip-top shape.
Max Gilpin's Tragic Death
Max Gilpin and the rest of the Pleasure Ridge Park High School football team had a three-hour practice on a hot August day in 2008. They sprinted, sometimes with helmets and pads. The coaches pushed them to go harder and faster. Gilpin, the 220 pound offensive lineman, collapsed on the field just 15 minutes after another teammate collapsed. Three days later, the 15-year-old Gilpin was dead from heat stroke. His body temperature was 107 degrees when he reached the hospital.
The coach's weather log for the day Gilpin collapsed showed a heat index of 94 degrees as practice started at 2:30 p.m. The index is a measure of how hot it feels based on temperature and humidity. Gilpin collapsed at around 6:10 p.m., toward the end of practice. The assistant coach called 911 when Gilpin stopped responding to ice packs and water. In the call, made at 6:17 p.m., the assistant coach described Gilpin as pale, with a "big rapid pulse."
Christina Spiva, the mother of another Pleasure Ridge Park student, called Gilpin's mother a few minutes later. "You need to get here quick. He's been down here for a while and I don't think they are moving fast enough," Spiva said. Crockett, Gilpin's mother, arrived at the school at 6:27 p.m. and found her son limp, with bloodshot eyes staring straight ahead and an ice pack behind his neck.
Paramedics arrived about the same time and made an unsuccessful attempt at putting a tube down his throat before rushing him by ambulance to the hospital, where he remained for three days before he died of septic shock, multiple organ failure and heat stroke.
Following his death, Gilpin's parents sued the head coach, David Jason Stinson, the five assistant coaches and the school administrators.
Is the Coach Responsible?
Coach Stinson has been criminally charged with reckless homicide. There were allegations that he denied water to the players and had them running drills for about 45 minutes in high heat. Furthermore, emergency medical services were not called until at least 17 minutes after Gilpin's collapse. Stinson faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
The prosecutor stated that the coach should have realized a player could collapse from heat stroke in that weather. Coach Stinson has pleaded not guilty and the trial is scheduled to begin August 23.
The school investigation that followed released a report that the coach and his staff didn't break any high school athletic rules, and found evidence that Gilpin was ill with a headache and other symptoms before the practice. The report, which is separate from the criminal case, concluded that Stinson and his assistants may not have used "appropriate means" to motivate the players but didn't break any athletic rules. Stinson is still employed in a non-teaching position.
Can High School Coaches Be Charged?
Dr. Fred Mueller, the director of the reasonable person would have done in that situation, and prove that Coach Stinson acted unreasonably. The defense will have to show that the coach acted reasonably.
The prosecution isn't seeking charges against the other five other coaches on the team, determining they committed no criminal act. All the coaches, however, have been sued in a civil action filed in September 2008 by Gilpin's parents, accusing the coaches of negligence and "reckless disregard." A civil claim has a lower threshold of proof than a criminal claim, and can only seek monetary damages and no criminal penalties.
School Responsibility
Under Kentucky High School Athletic Association guidelines, when the heat index is high, schools must "provide ample amounts of water. This means that water should always be available and athletes should be able to take in as much water as they desire" and schools must "monitor athletes carefully for necessary action."
Both Jefferson County Public Schools and Louisville Metro Police investigated Gilpin's death after The Courier-Journal reported that bystanders near the practice field heard coaches deny the players water. Other witnesses heard the coaches say they would make the players run until someone quit the team.
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