Maryville-Alcoa on ESPN

Unless you were totally not paying attention, there was a little game of football around these parts last Sunday.   One could make the argument that it was the biggest sporting event ever held in Blount County.

ESPN.  Sunday game.  Easily the biggest rivalry in Tennessee high school football.  (How many times do two teams only 6 miles apart with that many state championships play each other?)  Marine Corps All-American Rivalry Game.

An electric atmosphere.   A game that lived up to the hype.  An airplane trailing advertisements overhead.   A Kiowa Warrior helicopter on the practice field.  And a packed stadium of people, many of them a bit warm.  

OK, it was hot.   Not so hot that the game was in jeopardy of not being played.   We were way below that TSSAA threshold.   At game time, the temperature on the field was 89 and the humidity was 41%.  That produces a heat index of 90, well below the point where the game had to be changed.

But it was still hot.  For the players, we spent a lot of time and effort to make sure that the heat didn't affect them.   All week, Alcoa Athletic Trainer Peggy Bratt and I had been preaching hydration to our players.   We ask that they not pass a water fountain at school without stopping to take a drink and that they have a regular intake of sports drinks.

We practice in the heat, allowing them to acclimatize over several weeks before the first game.   The body can be conditioned to deal more effectively with hot conditions.

For the game itself, both sidelines had "misters," big fans with a spray of water that is very effective at cooling the players off.  Plenty of water and Gatorade were available at all times.   We broke out the ice towels (chamois towels soaked in ice water) early and even used them with the officials at times.  

I had a second athletic trainer on my sideline, Tracy Martin, and team physician Dr. Todd Griffith who helped me keep an eye on players that might be having difficulty with the heat.  And 10 student athletic trainers.  Peggy had Para-Medic Keith Amos and Alcoa team physician Dr. Mike Campbell on her sideline. 

The good news is that Peggy had only one significant problem with cramping but was able to effectively treat the athlete and return him to play without further problem.   And I only had one minor problem with heat cramps that didn't really interfere with his ability to play. 

The bad news is that the spectators didn't fare so well.    By reports that I have since heard,  Rural Metro transported six individuals to the hospital with heat-related problems. 

I would like to stop here and give kudo's to the Maryville Fire Department.   It seems like MFD Para-Medics and EMT's were everywhere on game day.   After the game, there were 3 spectators down with heat-related problems at once and there was at least 1 MFD employee with each of them.  

What could the spectators have done differently?   Drink more.   We think that we drink enough but probably don't.  I can tell you that the lines were already long when the gates opened at 9 and that means that by 3, folks had been out in the sun for a long time.

Fans that were passed out sure seemed to be popular.   Lack of moving air in the stands was a real problem.  Reflective clothing and hats would have helped.

But maybe the biggest thing is acclimatization.   Our football players benefited from having been out in the heat for long stretches of time in the preseason.  I suspect our spectators didn't have that advantage.

Please remember all that the next time you have to outside in the heat for an extended period of time.