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Athlete, The - Kentucky High School Athletic Association

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'.<br />

Aging Football Helmets May Not<br />

Provide Adequate Protection<br />

Are Your Student-<strong>Athlete</strong>s Safe?<br />

ATHLETE/September 1991 -13<br />

I<br />

Even the most expensive football<br />

helmet offers reduced protection over<br />

time, according to the major helmet<br />

offers reduced protection over time,<br />

according to the major helmet manufacturers.<br />

And, while maintenance and<br />

rehabilitation can extend a helmet's Ufe,<br />

its protective qualities will naturally<br />

deteriorate as the helmet ages.<br />

So, whether a helmet is used by a<br />

center/linebacker who is involved in<br />

virtually every play or a placekicker who<br />

is on the field only a matter of seconds<br />

each game, at some point in the helmet's<br />

life it is considered too old to provide<br />

adequate head protection.<br />

<strong>The</strong> challenge for football coaches,<br />

equipment managers and athletic<br />

directors is to rotate their inventory of<br />

the team's helmets. This practice will<br />

assure that each player will always have<br />

a ' 'safe ' ' helmet. Plus, continual phaseout<br />

of older helmets and purchase of new<br />

ones will prevent a budget joU. Imagine<br />

being an athletic director and having to<br />

ask the school board for funds to<br />

purchase 50-100 helmets at one time.<br />

Recent research by Riddell, Inc.,<br />

one of the world's largest manufacturers<br />

of helmets, concluded that it was "not<br />

feasible or prudent to recondition varsity<br />

helmets 10 years of age or older, or<br />

youth models eight years of age or<br />

older".<br />

Riddell is basing its position in<br />

part on ongoing testing of its product and<br />

analysis of reconditioned hehnets. <strong>The</strong><br />

helmet manufacturer's research indicates<br />

that a helmet's physical properties<br />

deteriorate from 75-80 percent in 1<br />

years.<br />

'<br />

'Ten years of use can drastically<br />

reduce some of the design properties that<br />

go into the helmet, ' ' said Nelson<br />

Kraemer, Riddell's director of engineering.<br />

"After 10 years, we feel the helmet<br />

has lost mechanical and physical<br />

properties that would allow the shell to<br />

crack and leave the player unprotected.<br />

All football helmet manufacturers<br />

recommend that schools recondition<br />

helmets and have them recertified every<br />

two years by the National Operating<br />

Committee for Standards and <strong>Athletic</strong><br />

Equipment (NOCSAE). Not only is this<br />

policy important for the safety of the<br />

athletes, it can also save the school's<br />

budget by extending the life of its<br />

helmets.<br />

"Varsity helmets can last between<br />

se\'en and ten years ' ', according to<br />

Riddell's Kraemer, "or possibly only<br />

one to two years if they 're abused and<br />

not maintained well '<br />

How ultraviolet rays from sunlight<br />

affected the plastic in helmets was a<br />

major part of Riddell's study of helmet<br />

deterioration.<br />

According to the study, conducted<br />

by General Electric,<br />

'<br />

'the cumulative<br />

effect of ultraviolet rays reduces<br />

plastic 's durability tofragile brittleness<br />

over time and exposure. " Questions<br />

remain as to whether helmets in the<br />

northern states are negatively affected as<br />

much as helmets used in the southern<br />

states because of the differences in<br />

ultraviolet exposure in the two areas.<br />

For those involved in administration<br />

of football, the primary concern is<br />

providing athletes with the safest<br />

equipment possible. To make sure only<br />

safe helmets are used, careful records<br />

must be kept on each helmet. After a<br />

certain number of years, the equipment<br />

manager should discard helmets, not<br />

pass them on to other teams. Also, each<br />

helmet should be reconditioned and<br />

receive NOCSAE certification.<br />

By keeping accurate records,<br />

purchasing high-qualify helmets and<br />

reconditioning them regularly, schools<br />

can meet their responsibilities to their<br />

athletes to furnish them with the safest<br />

equipment available.<br />

Suggestions for Reducing Head & Neck Injuries<br />

By Dr. Frederick O. Mueller, University ofNorth Carolina<br />

1. A complete pre-participation physical exam<br />

which included an evaluation of those athletes<br />

with a previous history of concussion or neck<br />

injury.<br />

2. A complete physical conditioning program<br />

that includes exercises to strengthen the neck<br />

musculature so that so that participants will be<br />

able to hold their heads firmly erect when<br />

making contact.<br />

performed all year.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se exercises should be<br />

3. Coaches should drill the athletes in the<br />

proper execution of the fundamentals of<br />

football skills, particularly blocking and<br />

tackling.<br />

<strong>The</strong> proper execution of these drills<br />

should be taught, practiced and enforced in<br />

both practice and games.<br />

4. Coaches and officials should discourage the<br />

players from using their heads as battering<br />

rams when blocking and tackling.<br />

<strong>The</strong> rules<br />

prohibiting spearing should be enforced in<br />

practice and in games. <strong>The</strong> players should be<br />

taught to respect the helmet as a protective<br />

device and that the helmet should not be used<br />

as a weapon.<br />

5. All coaches, physicians and trainers should<br />

take special care to see that the players'<br />

equipment is properiy filled, particularly the<br />

helmet.<br />

6. When a player has experienced or shown<br />

signs of head trauma (loss of consciousness,<br />

visual disturbances, headache, inability to<br />

walk correctly, obvious disorientation,<br />

memory loss) he should receive immediate<br />

medical attention and should not be allowed to<br />

return to practice or game without permission<br />

from the proper medical authorities.<br />

Previous<br />

head injury has been a factor in fatal head<br />

injuries.<br />

7.Total staff should be organized in that each<br />

person will know what (o do in case of a head<br />

or neck injury in game or practice. Have a<br />

plan ready and have your staff prepared to<br />

implement that plan.<br />

Signs and Symptoms or Head Injury<br />

•Loss of consciousness<br />

•Headache<br />

•Inability to walk correctly<br />

•Obvious disorientation<br />

•Increased drowsiness<br />

•Vomiting<br />

•Inequlllty of pupils<br />

•Memory loss

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