MOE reminds schools of medical safety tips for sports

Education Officer in charge of Physical Education in the Ministry of Education Rosmund Griffith is reminding educational institutions which participate in the Ministry’s sports competitions of the many medical safety procedures to observe.{{more}}

Griffith, through a document provided to SEARCHLIGHT, outlined some of the issues to which the physical education teachers and others concerned should pay close attention.

The precautionary measures listed include scrutiny of students’ medical history, as well as pre-participation examinations done by a doctor, nurse practitioner or qualified clinician under the supervision of a physician.

Other areas are the students’ physical and mental preparation, warm-up and adequate stretches before matches, re-hydration, the wearing of proper gear, along with other measures which would reduce the risk of injuries.

A check made by SEARCHLIGHT indicated that some schools do carry out pre-examinations of the students prior to their participation in competitions. One school informed that on entry to the school, the students’ medical reports are mandatory; hence, if there is any health risk in the student participating in physical education, the student is denied participation.

However, SEARCHLIGHT was told that if there any changes thereafter, the parents or guardians have to un-sign the original form, to pave the way for consent of the student’s involvement in the physical activity under consideration.

The need for attention to medical protocols gained much attention when Jamaican footballer Dominic James collapsed and died while representing his school in a football match in Jamaica, on September 20.

But the matter hit closer home last Tuesday when at the commencement of the SVG Community College Inter-Faculty Football competition at the Sion Hill Playing Field, one player reported not felling well and took no further part in the match.

Sports co-ordinator at the SVG Community College Roxell John told SEARCHLIGHT that at present there are no provisions in place at his institution to vet students’ medical records.

He, however, informed that this will be done for the other inter-faculty competitions.

Griffith noted that from her ministry’s end, not all the medical protocols are in place when school events are hosted.

“There are things in place, not everything, but the Ministry of Education, through the National Schools Games, works closely with the Ministry of Health and the Red Cross, which are members of the Schools Games Committee that organizes school sports,” she mentioned.

“Where inter schools events (track and field) are concerned, plans are always in place for a medical or trained first aid persons to be there; this does not happen all the time. When no one is present, the clinics or hospitals in the area would be contacted in the event of any casualties,” Griffith pointed out.

She revealed that her ministry, during last school year, hosted a forum for physical education teachers; however, it did not necessarily meet its objectives.

“Provision was made to have all physical education and sports teachers trained in First Aid and CPR. This was done in collaboration with Red Cross and Dr [Lennox] Adams from the Ministry of Health. However, not all teachers took this seriously; some attended half day, some did not turn up at all,” Griffith lamented.

The first sporting discipline to get going in this academic year is football, with competitions for both primary and secondary schools. They are set to commence during this month.(RT)