Safety Issues Article

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http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-rev ... 27414.html

Safety issues in pole vault come to forefront following serious injuries


 

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North Hills pole vaulter Alex Rushlander gets stuck on the bar
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

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Penn Trafford junior Kurt Skvarla prepares for the pole vault
Barry L. Reeger/Tribune-Review

By John Grupp
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, April 24, 2005


Statistics show it's the deadliest activity in high school sports, and more athletes are signing up every spring.

The pole vault -- the sport that put Knoch freshman Ryan Adler in critical condition Monday -- has continued to grow in popularity even as a national study concluded that no sport results in more fatalities based on the number of participants.

"I was the only vaulter at my high school," said Bethel Park's Scott O'Halek, a first-year coach at his alma mater. "Now, look at it."

With an estimated 25,000 high school pole vaulters in the United States, safety concerns regarding the increasingly popular sport were raised again in the wake of last week's accident involving Adler.







The 15-year-old freshman remains in critical condition at Children's Hospital following a high school meet at North Allegheny.

Adler's accident was the second involving a WPIAL pole vaulter in a four-day span. On April 15, Mt. Pleasant junior Ian Wirth sustained a broken right leg after landing legs-first on a vault at the Latrobe Invitational.

Adler, attempting to clear 9 feet, reportedly stalled going into his jump, lost his grip and landed in the plant box, the padded hole where the pole is placed prior to takeoff. Alder was taken to Children's Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma to control swelling in his brain.

Doctors tried unsuccessfully to bring Adler out of the coma Friday. His grandfather, Carl Adler, said doctors planned to try to repeat the procedure again late Saturday night or early this morning.

"We're praying," Knoch coach Wes Brahler said. "With any type of head injury, we're not sure until he wakes up. We're praying."

Paul Roth, the pole vault coach at Baldwin for the past two decades, witnessed Wirth's accident.

"Any time you see something like that, it's rather troubling," Roth said. "With the event, because of the height in the air, there's a certain risk involved. But when it's done correctly and kids are doing things in a fundamentally sound way, injuries don't happen too often."

When they do happen, they can be fatal. With 17 deaths since 1983, pole vault has accounted for more fatalities than any high school sporting activity based on numbers of participants, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.

WPIAL executive director Larry Hanley said every procedure was followed at North Allegheny's meet.

"I have had extended conversations with (North Allegheny) athletic director Bob Bozzuto and he assured me there was an official present, the pole vault certification was in order, the medical attention was very quick," Hanley said. "My sense from the people at Knoch and North Allegheny is that the situation was handled very well."

Brahler said meet officials completed and signed the pole vault verification form, which documents the weight of the athlete -- each of whom must weigh in before the meet -- and the weight rating of his or her pole.

"We follow all the rules that are required," Brahler said. "We keep the event as safe as possible."

All catastrophic pole vault injuries are investigated by the USA Track and Field Pole Vault Safety Committee. Adler's accident also is being looked into by the National Federation of State High School Association track and field liaison Cynthia Doyle, who learned of the incident after it was reported in Wednesday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Adler's injury is believed to be the first catastrophic injury involving a pole vaulter since widespread rule changes were implemented in 2002, when three vaulters -- former PIAA champion Kevin Dare of Penn State and two high-schoolers -- died in a two-month span.

Among the new rules were bigger landing pads, pole/weight rating guidelines and padding on any hard surfaces surrounding the mat, including the plant box. The landing pads, which cost about $10,000, were increased in width by 3 feet, 8 inches, to 19-8, and in length by 4 feet, 5 inches, to 16-5.

"In my estimation, they have done everything in the last two years that they can do," Pine-Richland coach Don Thomas said.

Said Baldwin senior Ron Walter, one of the WPIAL's top pole vaulters, "I really don't think you can do much more. If you do much more, you can't do (the event anymore)."

Will helmets help?

After his son's death, Ed Dare campaigned for mandatory helmets for all scholastic pole vaulters. Three years later, only six states have mandated helmets -- Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Mexico, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

Only a handful of WPIAL schools voluntarily use helmets, including Yough High School.

"I can't remember seeing anybody else use them," Yough coach John Ivanac said.

Thomas said the Pine-Richland track team makes helmets available to their vaulters.

"It's a bicycle helmet," he said. "We have them, but the kids don't like them."

Doyle said the St. Louis-based National Federation is hesitant to mandate the use of helmets for two reasons: First, there is no certified helmet designed specifically for pole vaulting, and second, no tests have determined that helmets minimize risk in pole vaulting. "Without that," she said, "we're reluctant to make a recommendation."

The company that rates helmets, Snell, won't certify for pole vaulting because there is no current helmet designed for high drops. Pole vaulters soar as high as 15 feet for boys and 11 feet for girls. Rather, athletes use non single-impact helmets, such as those intended for cycling or kayaking.

Athletes, perhaps reluctantly, have embraced the helmets in states with mandatory rules.

"I would say people have accepted it," Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association assistant director Marcy Thurwachter said. "I'm not sure people like it. Any time you add something unnatural, you get complaints from the athletes."

Jody Redman, a third-year associate director for the Minnesota State High School League, said it is too early to judge the helmets' effectiveness.

"There is no data that shows it has had an impact on head and neck injuries related to pole vaulting," Redman said.

Most coaches and pole vaulters are against mandatory helmet use. A survey by DyeStat following the 2002 deaths showed nearly 65 percent of coaches don't want them and only 14 percent of athletes wear helmets.

Walter, who has an athletic scholarship to Pitt, doesn't advocate the use of helmets.

"I've been pole vaulting for four years and I've never worn one and I don't plan on it," he said. "Helmets might work for beginners, but if you're going more than 13 feet, it's really not going to help you much."

Learn the trade

From the moment a pole vaulter takes off at the pad until landing in the pit, he or she must perform 17 different actions. It is the most technical of all track and field events, and accidents can occur with the athlete 10-15 feet in the air.

Because there are so many things that can go wrong, coaches such as Roth and Bethel Park's O'Halek, who has been involved with pole vaulting for 16 years, believe poor technique and improper equipment are the main culprits behind injuries.

"The biggest thing is education for the kids," O'Halek said. "You can't just give a kid a pole and say 'run and jump.' "

The DyeStat survey showed 93 percent of coaches say increased awareness of safe vaulting among coaches is the best way to improve safety.

"It's scary to watch kids with poor technique," Walter said.

Said Roth, "You have good coaches, and you also have some well-intentioned individuals, where pole vault really isn't their area of expertise. I don't know how many coaches aren't knowledgeable, but regrettably, it is higher than it should be."

Pennsylvania is not among the 10 states that mandate certification for pole vault coaches. Brahler, however, said he is qualified by the Pole Vault Safety Certification Board.

Some schools will only settle for accredited coaches. When Dave Klueber left Bethel Park for California (Pa.) University, head coach Brian Scott had trouble finding a replacement. Scott refused to compromise on his selection, ultimately landing O'Halek.

"It got to the point where I said if we don't find the right person, we're not going to have pole vault."




Dangerous game




There were more fatalities in pole vault since 1982 than any high school sporting activity other than football. The track and field numbers do not include pole vault figures.



Sport
Fatal
Non-fatal
Serious
Total

Football
92
210
226
528

Wrestling
2
29
17
48

Baseball
7
14
18
39

Cheerleading
1
11
20
32

Pole vault
17
8
7
31

Other track
3
6
14
23

Hockey
2
6
9
17

Basketball
2
4
10
16

Soccer
6
2
6
14

Gymnastics
1
8
4
13

Swimming
0
9
4
13


Source: National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, 1982-2003.



John Grupp can be reached at jgrupp@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7930.