Aug 22, 2018
Different Result

Quick thinking from athletic trainers at Texas A&M University helped prevent serious complications when a football player suffered heat stroke after a spring practice. According to The Dallas Morning News, Koda Martin, a former senior offensive lineman, made a full recovery within a few days of the incident thanks to the medical staff’s treatment.

There weren’t any indications that the practice was going to be problematic for Martin. The day’s high temperature was 83 degrees, and the workout wasn’t demanding — plus it had been one of Martin’s best practices.

The Houston Chronicle explains that Martin had taken part in about 40 plays during the practice that was held outside in full uniform. Toward the end of the practice, he had sprinted from sideline to sideline and back seven times. At that point, he wasn’t himself and had mistakenly put on a kicker’s helmet to continue with drills. His temperature is reported to have gotten to 106 degrees.

“Koda is a sweater,” Kirk Martin, Koda’s father, told The Houston Chronicle. “He’s lost as much as 20 pounds of sweat during practice. He tries to win every sprint they have, and he just gives maximum effort. His body just quit.”

The medical staff worked quickly to decrease Martin’s temperature, getting him into an ice tub while others called for an ambulance. After help arrived, they continued working to bring his temperature down while his organs were beginning to fail.

“They likely saved his life,” Kirk Martin, Koda’s father, said on Twitter about the Texas A&M medical staff.

Experts say using cold-water immersion is an important element in handling heat stroke. Although a number of proactive strategies — such as avoiding midday practice times, eliminating two-a-day practices, and emphasizing hydration — can help with preventing heat stroke, incidents can still happen.

Martin’s outcome was drastically different than what occurred following a similar incident at the University of Maryland, where offensive lineman Jordan McNair collapsed during a team workout. He later died due to complications from heat stroke.

“Obviously, we misdiagnosed and did not act accordingly, did not act appropriately in response to Jordan’s situation,” Damon Evans, Athletic Director at the Maryland, said at a press conference.

Image by Stuart Seeger.



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