Doctors and safety experts from the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt will host a free sports safety clinic on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at St. Mathew School in Franklin, Tenn.
The educational presentation and Q&A is geared toward parents and coaches in the community, and will include information to prevent concussions, heat illnesses and overuse injuries in children.
Alex Diamond, D.O., MPH, assistant professor of Pediatrics, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation and medical director of the Program for Injury Prevention in Youth Sports (PIPYS) at Vanderbilt, said an estimated 3.5 million young athletes receive medical treatment for sports-related injuries each year, and roughly 9 percent of children who are injured quit playing sports altogether.
“Sports and exercise provide a number of health benefits both physically and socially,” Diamond said. “We’re trying to prevent injury so children can continue to participate safely and do what they love, as well as carry healthy physical fitness habits into adulthood.”
The sports safety clinic is one of many Vanderbilt-led efforts this year to help prevent and treat sports-related injuries, including the launch of Vanderbilt’s CoachSmart app for mobile phones and pre-concussion baseline tests for young athletes.
To register, call 936-SAFE (7233). Visit Children’s Hospital’s website for detailed sports safety information at http://www.childrenshospital.vanderbilt.org/sportssafety.
