OSSA SAFETY TASK GROUP2012-2013 Season Overview

OSSA AGMMay 24 & 25, 2013

SIMECMandate:• Establish priorities and make recommendations to Speed

Skating Canada (SSC) regarding the development and implementation of policies and procedures pertaining to sport injury and medical emergencies

• EAP, SSC Return to Play, Protective equipment, Concussion policy, concussion information, crash mat specifications

Websites:• Red Book: www.speedskating.ca/red-book-1 • SIMEC: http://

www.speedskating.ca/sport-injury-and-medical-emergency-committee

OSSA Safety Task Group

• Established at the 2012 OSSA AGM

Mandate:That OSSA create a safety Task Group to work under the Officials Development Committee. The task group would include members from various member clubs. The group would investigate safety topics including concussions, with a provincial perspective with the goal of creating and implementing a plan to identify methods to promote safety and reduce the risk and impact of injury

Members

Vince Carruthers (Cambridge)Janique Gagnon (Gloucester)

Dave Hickman (K-W)Mark Miyasaki (Cambridge)

Anne Marie Malcolm (Brampton)Jeanne Preudhomme (Toronto)

John Van Lierop (London)

What have we been up to…?Guidelines & Procedures

• “When In Doubt, Pull Them Out”• Do No Harm “Policy”• Straw documents?Website: www.ontariospeedskating.ca/safety

What we have been up to…Competition Presence and Resource• Presentation at 2012 OSSA AGM• Presence at Provincial Series 1 & 4 (Cambridge),

Junior Trials, Provincial A Championships• Contact for assistance with SSC crash mat

guidelines: Minimum specs Timelines for implementation Amended document

o OSSA communicated concerns to SSCo STG members had opportunity to discuss and provide

feedback

Our Direction for 2013-2014

• Ice quality• Concussion policy• Officials will have all skaters who fall checked

out when leaving the ice

WANTED!!Liaison Person from Each Club

2012-2013 Injury Reports• Total reports received at OSSA: 44 (up from 9 last year)• Gender Breakdown: 14 female, 29 male, 1 unknown• 36 of 44 injuries reported were from skaters at

competitions.• Reporting is improving but still not a good picture of what is

happening during club practices.• Received reports from 12 clubs (KW, Quinte, Ottawa (ST &

LT), Brampton, Gloucester, Kingston, Newmarket, Clarington, Oakville, Milton, Toronto, Markham)

• Skaters had 2-10 years of skating experience• No visible trend: 4 Beginner; 17 Intermediate;

18 Advanced; 5 unknown skill level.

Reporting (continued)Types of Injury:

Cut or laceration to body: 8 Sore back or neck: 5 Face hit ice: 2 Bruised leg: 2 Fracture (ankle): 1 Ankle damage (twist or sore):7 Head discomfort / Suspected concussion: 6 General uneasiness reported:5 Other: 7

Reporting (continued)Location of incident:

Fall before apex: 4 Fall after apex: 23 Fall on straight: 1 Collision with other skater: 6 Other: 8

Reporting (continued)Ages and Genders:

8 years: 1 male9 years: 1 male, 1 female10 years: 1 male, 2 female11 years: 1 male12 years: 3 male, 2 female13 years: 1 male, 2 female14 years: 4 male, 1 female15 years: 6 male, 2 female16 years: 3 male, 1 female

Reporting (continued)

Age 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 160

1

2

3

4

5

6

Ages and Genders:

Males Females

8 years: 1 male9 years: 1 male, 1 female10 years: 1 male, 2 female11 years: 1 male12 years: 3 male, 2 female13 years: 1 male, 2 female14 years: 4 male, 1 female15 years: 6 male, 2 female16 years: 3 male, 1 female

Innovative Mat Systems – Examples from Toronto and Cambridge• Overview: Mat adoption system in Toronto• New half mats addresses:

Safety The Junior Trials experience

oReduced injuries

• Cost• Storage/logistics – 2 rink experience• Overcoming obstacles

Benefits of Short (Honeycomb) Mats• Augment your current mats with another layer of padding:

works as a shock absorber and significantly reduces injury• Reduced cost of acquisition - $156 per mat

recommend 24 for NHL pad (cost $3,744 + shipping & tax) recommend 30 for Olympic pad (cost $4,680 + shipping & tax)

• Reduced storage needs vs. a 2nd (or 3rd) level of full size mats• Reduced time on and off ice vs. full size mats• Use “air” to work as a shock absorber: can leave up to 18”

between mats and continue to get the honeycomb benefits• Mat dimensions (Quebec Standard): 60 x 35 x 225 cm (23.6” x

13.78” x 88.58”)

Benefits of Short Mats (continued)• Key difference between doubling up full mats vs half mats:

Board side mat within doubled up full mat system scoots up on impact, reducing skater padding protection

Front (full) mat folds over the half mat in collision, keeping half mat at ice level and maximizing padding during collision

NOTE: Quebec meet study, 2011-2012: 97% of falls have skaters hitting the mats at ice level, therefore maximizing protection at ice level is critical

• Increased shock absorption and reduced skater bounce-back into the rink

• NOTE: Short mats are mandatory in Quebec, but have not yet been “approved” by SSC

The Cambridge Experience

• New mat systems addresses :• Safety – entire rink matted for competitions • Storage/logistics• Used for Provincial series #1 & 4• CSSC worked with KW for the Provincials

SSC Level 4 Mat SystemObserved Impacts from

OSSA Provincial Series Meet #4February 2nd, 2013

Cambridge, ON

Two Person Impact

Compression shy of boards

Blue pad interrupts system flow by resisting inwards movement

Findings• Hollow core (honeycomb) mats allow for greater

compression, hence deceleration over a greater distance• Compression of mats must not be to an extent where

“bottoming out” can occur• Mats should work together as a “system” and not a

group of individually linked cells• Mats should have unrestricted compressive movement

and restricted movement in the recovery direction (securing string)

• Mats in relaxed state should not be pre-compressed

Conclusions• A mat “system” can reduce the potential for

injuries• Hollow core half mats reduce peak forces on

the skater• Plan how you want your system to work• Make reference to the SSC Red Book• Ask questions…lots of questions

Concussion Protocol Updates:Cambridge and Toronto

Final Thoughts

• Ice quality• More insight to follow in the new season

(Vince)• Do we want to have mini-sessions?• STG Contact information is on OSSA website

Questions…?