National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Preventing Sudden Death in Sports

This NATA position statement, co-chaired by Douglas Casa and Kevin Guskiewicz, brings together recommendations on the most common causes of sudden death in organized sport. It is addressed to athletic trainers and others who provide athletic health care, and each recommendation carries a SORT evidence grade.

It covers ten conditions: asthma, catastrophic brain injury, cervical spine injury, diabetes, exertional heat stroke, exertional hyponatremia, exertional sickling, head-down contact in football, lightning and sudden cardiac arrest. For each it sets out prevention and screening, recognition, treatment and return to play.

Across conditions, it stresses that every organization sponsoring athletics should have a written, venue-specific emergency action plan built with local emergency services and rehearsed regularly. It urges first aid, CPR and AED training for coaches but argues that this is no substitute for having an athletic trainer available, particularly in high schools.