Health & Safety Channel

Expert Tip

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Youth Sports Safety: Seven Things Parents Can Do To Protect Their Child [17]
Here are seven ways parents can help keep their kids safe playing sports:
1. Be pro-active about safety issues; learn about the risks posed by the sport your child plays
2. Insist that coaches receive training [18] in first-aid and injury prevention and bring a properly stocked first-aid kit [19] to all games and practices
3. Guard against overuse injuries [20]; don't let your child play the same sport year-round
4. Demand safe fields [21] and equipment, such as anchored goals [22], and emergency telephones
5. Ask about the weather policy [23] of your child's club; if it doesn't have one, adopt your own
6. Protect your child from the dangerous coach. Ask your club to run background checks on coaches [24] or adopt the KidSafe program.
7. Get your child's club to set up a risk management committee.
Read more » [17]

Consumer Alerts

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Featured Blogs & Forums

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When A Player Is Hurt, Every Mom Feels Their Pain [31]
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Pop Warner Concussion Scandal: Lessons Learned [33]
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Safety Matters in Youth and High School Hockey [35]
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Buyer Beware (Part 1): Claims That Equipment Can Prevent Concussions Too Good To Be True [36]
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Steve Stenersen (US Lacrosse CEO): Too Many In Youth Sports Put Profit Ahead Of Kids [38]
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Concussions in Hockey: A Dark Cloud Hanging Over the Sport With A Simple Solution: Play By The Rules [39]

Featured Articles

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Energy Drinks: What Teenagers, Doctors, and Parents Should Know [41]

Reviewing current information about the content, benefits, and risks of the use of energy drinks by teens, a group of military doctors expressed "great concern" over the safety and negative effects of energy drinks, given their high caffeine content and the common practice on college campuses (and most likely at the high school level as well) of mixing energy drinks with alcohol.

Read more » [41]
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Are Concussed Athletes Being Returned To Play While Still Cognitively Impaired? [42]

A significant number of concussed student-athletes may be cleared to return to play despite being cognitively impaired, finds an important new study, which recommends adding post-exertion computerized neurocognitive testing to the return-to-play protocol.

Read more » [42]
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Effect of Concussions On Children's Brains Linger Long After Symptoms Clear [43]

Structural abnormalities in children's brains persist in children and teens for months after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or concussion, even when symptoms have cleared and results on neurocognitive tests have returned to normal, finds a sobering new study in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Read more » [43]
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Many U.S. High Schools Unprepared For Cardiac Emergency [44]

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of sudden death in exercising young athletes, but despite data showing that early defibrillation with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can save nearly two-thirds of student-athletes who suffer SCA, many U.S. high schools are not prepared to respond to an SCA or have significant deficiencies that could be improved, a new study finds.

Read more » [44]
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Athletes' Resistance To Self-Reporting of Concussion Continues Despite Increased Education [45]

Athletes continue to underreport concussion even when they know the signs and symptoms, finds a new study, suggesting that efforts to break the code of silence which pervades contact sports, and change the attitudes of athletes towards reporting concussion, don't appear to be working.

Read more » [45]