Saving Lives, One Sports Injury At A Time

The number of student athlete injuries has decreased greatly since the early 1970s thanks to the work and
recommendations of Fred Mueller, long-time director of the ational !enter for !atastro"hic #"orts
$njury %esearch& Mueller's ground breaking changes in high school "ole (aulting and swim com"etitions
ha(e sa(ed li(es& )eekends on All Things Considered guest host host *aura #ulli(an s"eaks with Fred
Mueller about his latest area of concern+ !heer-leading&
)hat is the e(olution of injuries in student athletes o(er the years ,
)ho is Fred Mueller ,
)hat s"orts did he focus on ,
*-.%- #.**$/-, 01#T+
For 2222 years, Fred Mueller has been researching how student athletes get 222222222222, or worse&
-nd when it ha""ens, he's one of the first to hear about it&
F%34 M.3**3%+ - young kid has died or is "ermanently222222222222222, and he's 15, 16 years old,
and you ne(er get used to that&
#.**$/-+ Mueller is the director of the ational !enter for !atastro"hic #"orts $njury %esearch at
.! !ha"el 0ill& -nd when he talks, athletic organi7ations listen& 8ecause when they im"lement his
safety recommendations, it sa(es 22222222222222222&
ow Mueller's on the "ath to retirement and he lea(es behind a legacy of groundbreaking changes in
athletic safety& 4r& Mueller, welcome to the "rogram&
M.3**3%+ Thank you (ery much& 0a""y to be here&
#.**$/-+ )hat's the most common cause of death in high school athletes right now,
M.3**3%+ 0ead injury, 22222222222222 injury and usually caused by the222222222222222 or being
tackled and helmet-to-helmet contact&
#.**$/-+ 9ou're talking about football& 8ut this is not all football related&
M.3**3%+ o, there are other s"orts in(ol(ed with 22222222222 injuries also, but not as high as
football& Male and female soccer ha(e "roblems& 8aseball had some - actually, all the s"orts ha(e some
ty"e of head and 222222222222 injury&
#.**$/-+ )ell, let's talk about 22222222222222 and "ole (aulting because your research has brought
about incredible im"ro(ements in both of those s"orts&
M.3**3%+ $n 19:0, when we started looking at all s"orts, 19:; actually, we noticed there were four
"ole (aulting 222222222222 in one year& -nd what was ha""ening was that the "ole (aulter was either
22222222222 out of the landing "it or 22222222222222 the landing "it com"letely, and it usually was a
2222222 injury& #o what ha""ened, the2222222222 changed, and they22222222222 the si7e of the
landing "it& #o that made a difference&
#.**$/-+ -nd another one of them was swimming&
M.3**3%+ 9es& #wimming was a "roblem early on& The racing di(e in the early ':0s, the di(er would
di(e from the starting blocks and hit the water and start swimming right away& -nd then coaches were
doing research and found that if they2222222222 into the water and went dee"er into the water initially,
that they would get a 22222222222222222 on their races& #o they go dee" in the water and 222222 their
head on 2222222222222 of the "ool and that caused a lot of brain and neck injuries, "araly7ing injuries,
so new rules went into effect there also&
#.**$/-+ -nd because of that, now they di(e into 2222222222222 water&
M.3**3%+ 1r start the race in the water&
#.**$/-+ -nd now you ha(e some concerns about cheerleaders&
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M.3**3%+ 9eah& !heerleaders ha(e been a major "roblem, and $ think we still ha(e a "roblem there&
The old days, the cheerleaders were shaking 222222222222 and jum"ing u" and down on the sideline& $t
changed dramatically to a 22222222222222 e(ent, where they're 2222222222222a female who is light in
weight ;5 or <0 feet and she's doing all kind of 2222222222 and turns in the air, and then they're
su""osed to222222222 her before she hits the ground& -nd in many cases, they were222222222222222
her or missing her, and she was 22222222222 usually on a hard surface& #o again, head injuries, neck
injuries, cou"le of 22222222222&
#.**$/-+ )hat did you recommend for cheerleading,
M.3**3%+ $ recommended treating cheerleading like a 22222222& #o they would ha(e to ha(e =ualified
222222222222, athletic 2222222222222222, good conditioning e>ercises and things like that&
#.**$/-+ )hat goes through your head when you see one of the re"orts of a child that's died or been
seriously injured,
M.3**3%+ 9ou think about that kid's family& 9ou think about the "oor coaches in(ol(ed with that& -nd
the kids with 22222222222222222, you know, if they don't ha(e insurance, medical bills are going to be
gigantic, maybe22222222222222222222222 dollars the first year&
#.**$/-+ -nd then you ha(e to "ick u" the "hone and call them&
M.3**3%+ 9eah& That's the hard "art&
#.**$/-+ 4o you e(er ha(e "eo"le who don't want to talk to you,
M.3**3%+ 9eah& ot the "arents but sometimes the coaches or the athletic de"artment& They feel if they
talk to you that "eo"le will look at them as being2222222222222222 for a death or a catastro"hic injury&
-nd what we try to tell those "eo"le is what we're trying to do is 2222222222222 the number of injuries
that are ha""ening and make a game 22222222222 for the "artici"ants& ow, if we can do that, we'(e
really accom"lished a big goal&
#.**$/-+ That's Fred Mueller, the long-time director of the ational !enter for !atastro"hic #"orts
$njury %esearch at .! !ha"el 0ill& Thanks so much for talking with us&
M.3**3%+ Thank you, *aura
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/19/142550204/saving-lives-one-sports-injur-at-a-ti!e
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1& )hy do athletic organisations listen to Mueller's recommendations,
;& )hat doe Mueller's job consist of ,
<& )hat causes head injuries,
D& )hich s"ort had the most serious head injuries,
5& )hat s"orts has his research brought im"ro(ement in ,
6& )hat is (ery dangerous in "ole (aulting ,
7& )hat changes were made in this s"ort after D "ole (aulters died in one year, in 19:;,
:& )hy were there many head, neck, and "aralysing injuries in racing di(e in the :0s,
9& )hat changes ha(e been made to "re(ent these kinds of risks ,
10& )hat is Mueller concerned by today ,
11& )hy does he recommend to treat it like a s"ort ,
1;& )hat is Mueller's goal ,
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