NFHS Offers New Online Course to Minimize Risk of Heat-Stroke Deaths in High School Sports

NFHS Offers New Online Course to Minimize Risk of Heat-Stroke Deaths in High School Sports

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                        Contact: Tim Flannery

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 5, 2012) — In its ongoing effort to minimize the risk of participating in high school athletics, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has produced a free online course entitled “A Guide to Heat Acclimatization and Heat Illness Prevention.”

The course, which provides critical information designed to minimize the risk of activity-related heat stroke among high school athletes, is the fourth and latest free course in the NFHS Coach Education Program available online at www.nfhslearn.com.

With fall football practice set to begin across the country in about a month and with record heat in many locations this year, the information contained in this course could help save lives, according to Tim Flannery, NFHS director of coach education.

“Heat stroke is the leading cause of preventable death in high school athletics,” Flannery said, “and results in thousands of emergency room visits and hospitalizations throughout the nation each year. Many times, deaths from heat strokes are preventable, and we believe this course can be just the tool that players, coaches and parents need to guard against serious illness or death.”

To provide more options for individuals to access the course, “A Guide to Heat Acclimatization and Heat Illness Prevention” can be taken on mobile devices, including iPads and tablets.

The heat illness course will serve as a great companion to the free “Concussion in Sports – What You Need to Know” course, which has been taken by more than 430,000 individuals since its debut in May 2010. The other free courses offered through the NFHS Coach Education Program are “Sportsmanship” and “The Role of the Parent in Sports.”

“We are very pleased to be able to offer this important course on heat illness free of charge,” Flannery said. “With more than 7.6 million participants in high school sports, minimizing the risk of serious illness and injury is a top priority, and we believe this course will help prevent unnecessary deaths from heat illness and heat stroke.”

The NFHS Coach Education Program offers 29 online courses, including the two core courses – Fundamentals of Coaching and First Aid Health and Safety for Coaches. The NFHS also offers 13 sport-specific courses and seven elective courses.

All NFHS Coach Education Program courses are available at www.nfhslearn.com.
 
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About the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS sets direction for the future by building awareness and support, improving the participation experience, establishing consistent standards and rules for competition, and helping those who oversee high school sports and activities. The NFHS writes playing rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,000 high schools and 11 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.6 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; offers online publications and services for high school coaches and officials; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, speech and debate coaches, and music adjudicators; serves as the national source for interscholastic coach training; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS Web site at www.nfhs.org.
 
 
 
MEDIA CONTACTS:          Bruce Howard or John Gillis, 317-972-6900
                                         National Federation of State High School Associations
                                         PO Box 690, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206
                                         bhoward@nfhs.org or jgillis@nfhs.org
Bruce Howard
Director of Publications and Communications
National Federation of State High School Associations
PO Box 690
Indianapolis, IN 46206
317-822-5724
317-822-5700 (Fax)
bhoward@nfhs.org