Jeannie Yandel talks to Dr. Stanley Herring, co-director of UW Medicine's Sports Health and Safety Institute, about the safety of high school football players and other teen athletes. Herring is also medical director of Spine, Sports and Orthopedic Health at UW Medicine and a team doctor for the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Mariners.
Herring said he would allow a child to play football, or another sport, only under these terms: The program has well-trained coaches; there is an emergency medical action plan in place; coaches, parents and athletes were educated about the risk of all injuries – not just concussions; and there was a plan for practices and games that limited unnecessary exposure to injury.
