‘This Was Preventable’: Football Heat Deaths and the Rising Temperature

"Most states rank poorly on heat safety for their high school football players. Too many teens have paid the price, and temperatures are only getting worse."

"Laurie Giordano had just arrived after her son collapsed on his high school football practice field in Fort Myers, Florida.

It was June 29, 2017, and she remembers it with painful clarity.

The Riverdale High School teammate who knocked on her car window at the end of a sweaty practice, telling her that her son couldn't get up on his feet. Her son, cradled in a coach's arms, making a slow, repetitive moaning sound, while players poured water in his mouth. The coach saying the player was just a little overheated.

The ambulance arrived, but 10 days later, Zach Martin-Polsenberg, a 16-year-old lineman, was dead, a victim of heat stroke. In the ambulance, Zach opened his eyes a few times and squeezed his mother's hands, but that was the last of their communication."

James Bruggers reports for InsideClimate News July 20, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"Why Heat Waves Are More Challenging For Pregnant Women" (NPR)

"As Milk Production Cools In Summer, Farmers Try To Help Cows Take The Heat" (NPR)

"Record Heat Could Be Hitting Phoenix Area Early This Week" (AP)

"Summer Nights Are Getting Hotter. Here's Why That’s a Health and Wildfire Risk." (InsideClimate News)

"Heat Wave Safety: 130 Groups Call for Protections for Farm, Construction Workers" (InsideClimate News)

"Summers Are Getting Hotter Faster, Especially in North America's Farm Belt" (InsideClimate News)

"As Temperatures Climb, Coalition Calls For Worker Protections" (HuffPost)

"Workers in Summer Heat Need Far Better Protections, Groups Say" (Thomson Reuters)

Source: InsideClimate News, 07/24/2018