April is National Youth Sports Safety Month and, as children and teenagers get active once again in a variety of outdoor sports following cold winter months, attention turns to treating — and preventing — a plethora of injuries that result from that.
Major sports injuries are usually treated by private physicians. However, treatment/prevention programs are sometimes available through school districts.
The Sweetwater district has been fortunate to have visionaries such Dr. Charles Camarata associated with injury treatment/prevention programs for its student-athletes.
Camarata and his dedicated team of physicians and on-site athletic trainers have been supplying free physicals as well as weekly sports injury clinics within the district for more than 25 years.
“We do this work for the community — we’re dedicated to safety,” Camarata said.
Many family physicians are not familiar with sports medicine – or sports injuries. Therefore, these types of free programs offered within the Sweetwater district are particularly valuable to students and their families.
Camarata has been involved with the Sweetwater district for more than five decades.
He first volunteered his services as the team physician for Castle Park High School in 1963 and became the team physician for Southwestern College in 1970. Since 1963, he has donated his time and expertise by volunteering in more than 10,000 sports screening examinations as well as attending more than 1,200 high school football games.
Nearing 85, Camarata still regularly attends high school football games throughout the district with an ever-growing staff of similarly dedicated physicians, physical therapists and sports medicine students in training.
“Besides treating students, we are also involved in teaching programs,” Camarata explained.
The sports screening examinations are particularly helpful in preventing future injuries.
During 1,000 exams conducted in 2010, for instance, four students were found to have irregular heartbeats, of which one was probably life threatening.
Camarata and his volunteer staff will conduct another free health screening July 22 at Montgomery High School for the upcoming 2017-18 sports season. Exams are scheduled to start at 8 a.m. and will last through the early afternoon.
An estimated 850 free physicals were provided last year.
Camarata said several stations are set up to screen students.
“We take it as a team approach,” Camarata explained. “We first take their height and weight, vision, blood pressure and pulse, then they go through an orthopedic station and then a medical station.”
Camarata said EKG equipment is on site for use.
“If an EKG is abnormal, we can do an echo-cardiogram on site,” he said.
Camarata said other abnormalities discovered trough the screenings can often be treated with rehabilitation that will allow students to resume playing sports.
The state of California requires at least one health screening for student-athletes annually. Camarata said the upcoming July screening will cover participating students for the next year.
In the past, some students injured in Friday football games were not seen by a physician until the following Monday. The instillation of Saturday morning sports injury clinics has greatly helped in this regard for safety.
Now, students can attend free Saturday injury clinics the day after games. Friday afternoon injury clinics are also offered that are especially useful for evaluations for students who have been diagnosed with concussions.
Camarata and his staff have helped set up a concussion protocol within the district.
Baseline screenings of students are now conducted prior to engaging in sports activity. Each screening takes about 20 to 25 minutes and measures a student’s ability to process information mentally, specifically the speed at which a student processes tasks mentally.
Another baseline screening is conducted 48 hours after a concussion is diagnosed to compare results.
“It’s a very important tool for physicians to use to determine whether an athlete can return to play,” Camarata said.
After being diagnosed with a concussion, students are not allowed to participate in any physical activity, even practices, for one week.
Since students are still inactive for a week following a concussion sustained, for example, in a football game, follow-up exams at the Friday afternoon clinics are particularly useful in charting a student’s progress.
In fact, students may not reach 90 percent of their original baseline test until two weeks after sustaining a concussion.
“We’re extremely proud the district has invested in this protocol,” Camarata said.
Currently, the free injury clinics are offered at two locations operated by Manual Orthopedic Physical Therapy, which is operated by president Mike Stein, a physical therapist.
The Friday clinics are offered from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Bonita office (855 Canarios Court, Suite 110).
The Saturday clinics are offered from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Eastlake office (955 Lane Ave., Suite 201).
Call the Bonita office at (619) 656-5102 or the Eastlake office at (619) 421-9525 for more information.
Beginning in January, the free sports injury clinics will be moved into new space provided by the district.
Coaches often provide first line of defense against common sports injuries
Coaches within the Sweetwater Union High School District are certified every two years in first aid, CPR, concussion in sports and sudden cardiac arrest protocols.
Hilltop High School swim/water polo coach Ernie Medina said injuries commonly seen in water polo include concussions, shoulder and knee injuries as well as some cuts and bruises. Swimming can cause injuries mostly in shoulders and knees from overuse.
Eastlake High School girls field hockey/lacrosse coach Robert Blas said injuries he sees in those sports are typically sprained ankles and bruises caused from stick contact to arms, though one student did sustain a concussion from an inadvertent blow to the head in a lacrosse game.
Baseball injuries are varied from pulls and contusions all the way to breaks and concussions, according to Chula Vista High School coach Jim Westlund.
Westlund said on-site game day trainers are able to take care of most injuries suffered by athletes. He said a mobile health clinic operates several days each week on the CVHS campus.
Hilltop High School girls/boys volleyball coach Tyler Reeves said that sport seems to produce mostly lower leg injuries such as ankle sprains and knee injuries.
He said ACL sprains and tears are more common in girls volleyball than boys volleyball.
“Shoulder injuries are common with overuse but generally during play we only see those lower leg injuries,” he said. “There are bumps and bruises players get from diving on the floor but I don’t consider those too major.”
Preventive measures often include taping bad ankles and using braces.
Five tips to help prevent sports injuries
Safekids.org offers five important tips for coaches, parents and children in helping prevent sports-incurred injuries:
•Before playing organized sports, make sure young athletes receive a pre-participation physical exam, or PPE, by a doctor. This can help rule out any potential medical conditions that may place kids at risk.
•Bring a water bottle to practice and games. Encourage children to stay well hydrated by drinking plenty of water before, during and after play.
•Stretching before practice and games can make a big difference by releasing muscle tension and helping prevent sports-related injuries such as muscle tears or sprains. Make sure there is time set aside before every practice and game for athletes to warm up properly.
•Off-season is important, too. It is recommended that kids get 10 consecutive weeks of rest from any one sport every year. Playing different sports throughout the year is OK.
•Coaches should be certified in first aid and CPR, learn the signs and symptoms of a concussion and help avoid overuse injury by resting players during practices and games.
WATER SAFETY TIPS
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under the age of 5. Infants and toddlers can drown quickly and silently in a matter of seconds. Drowning is preventable:
•Learn to swim. The best thing anyone can do to stay safe in and around water is to learn to swim.
•Never leave a child unsupervised around water. Assign an adult to maintain constant supervision around children.
•All weak or non-swimmers should wear a United States Coast Guard approved life jacket. The use of flotation devices and inflatable toys cannot replace parental supervision. Such devices can suddenly shift position, lose air or slip out from underneath, leaving a child in a dangerous situation.
