Playing It Safe With High School Sports

Among the recommendations

• Organizations that sponsor high school athletics should put in place a health-care team to ensure timely and appropriate care for all athletes;
• Those same organizations need to develop an emergency action plan to ensure that injuries and illnesses are treated promptly;
• Students participating in sports should have a physical exam to detect any health problems that might be aggravated by physical activity.

"Our hope is that the summary statement and strategies will together provide an opportunity for all high school athletes to get appropriate medical treatment whenever and wherever they play sports," said Almquist, who chaired the task force and is lead author of the statement.

More information

The NATA consensus statement outlines how to set up a safe environment for high school athletes.