Last weekend, Denver Broncos star kicker, Jason Elam, was very heavily
tackled in the game against the Atlanta Falcons and he lay in agony on the
turf crying about back pain and his inability to feel or move his one leg.
Yet, the athletic trainers simply pulled him onto his feet, placed his arms
around their shoulders and supported him off the field in a spinally unstable
vertical position, as many of the public witnessed on national TV.
Is it not one of the most basic rules learned in First Aid that, if someone
is suspected of spinal trauma, all spinal movement should be prevented and
the victim should very carefully be moved onto a stretcher in a rigid,
restrained spinal position with the aid of several assistants?
In this case, the athlete very clearly identified the source of his pain and
reported impaired neural functioning down his lower extremities, so can
anyone explain why he was removed from the field in this fashion? For all
that his trainers knew, he may well have sustained serious damage to the
spine which could have been massively exacerbated by any movement of the
traumatised region. Surely the most conservative and cautious approach
possible is usually applied, is it not? Would anyone venture to comment on
this situation? Did I miss something?
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
<http://www.egroups.com/group/supertraining>
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