A few years ago, 15 student athletes died from heart failure in Texas. When the 16th one who collapsed was saved by the use of an AED (automated external defibrillator) the state required an AED to be present in schools and at athletic events.
Dozens of young athlete die from heart failure in the US each year while playing or practicing.
I hope you never are at an event when an athlete drops dead. And if you are, I hope an AED is available. By the way, refs and coaches have been saved by these devices, too.
The brother of a friend died playing basketball in his mid twenties. AEDs weren’t around back then. About 50-75% of athletes who collapse from heart failure can be revived by AEDs.
The school my kids attended now has 9 of them in the school and the athletic department has enough additional ones so that every team that goes on the road takes one along.
While it may seem humorous to suggest that a young atlete might collapse from heart failure, there are dozens of families in the US each that are not amused since it happened to their kid.
Sadly, some schools do not have these devices.
Wrestlers die, too.
http://www.highschoolot.com/content/blogpost/9060782/
http://muskogeephoenix.com/local/x1253553444/Middle-school-wrestler-dies-after-practice
http://www.4hcm.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-14673.html
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy will drop them too.
Thanks for the lecture Church Lady.
My sarcasm was in response to the idea that the rules were put in place in case one of the contestants had a heart attack. They weren’t.