NFL places video monitors on sidelines to assist teams medical staff to monitor injuries – NFL News
The National Football League (NFL) said on Friday, January 06, 2012, that it has introduced another step in the players’ safety measures being implemented by the league office to protect players from injuries, particularly concussions, during each game of
the American professional football league.
As of the latest, the league said that a video monitor will be available on the sideline during each game in the playoff and beyond to help the teams’ medical staff to monitor and treat possible injuries to players.
The monitors will be in access to the team’s medical staff and chief athletic trainers to monitor hits to players and assess and treat them for injuries, especially for concussions.
None of other team members will be able to use those monitors, the league office said. Every time a team’s medical staff accesses the monitor to see replays of fouls, a league’s official will be informed about the use of the monitors.
"It's another in an ongoing series of steps to enhance player safety," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.
He said that only those videos, which show a player is hit and hurt, will be in access to the teams authorized officials.
The new policy measure will be implemented immediately, starting from very next game of the playoff season, and all the 32 league’s franchises have already been informed of this development through a NFL memo.
It is the second straight development towards promotion of players’ safety being taken by the league office since controversy surrounding head injury to Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular season
of the NFL.
McCoy was sent back on to the field to resume his plays without testing for his injury on the sideline. The Browns, who became subject of an inquiry by the NFL, said that their medical staff was busy attending to other injured players on the sideline and
could not witness the helmet-to-helmet hit on McCoy involving the Steelers linebacker James Harrison and realised its impact.
The teams apparently negligence led to a heated debate with demands of penalizing the Browns but inspite of the inquiry and conclusion pointing out at a system failure at the Browns they escaped the inevitable punishment.
Harrison, however, was suspended for one game and became the first player to have received the penalty under the enhanced safety measures by the NFL.
The league office has introduced a couple of measures since the McCoy concussion to promote players safety during each game.
This includes positioning of a certified athletic trainer at press box during each game to assist teams’ medical staff in monitoring, assessment and treatment of players for head injuries.
Now it has also made available the video panels on the sideline during each game to help teams’ medical staff to view replays of possible fouls resulting in injuries to players. The focus of the latest step is concussion injuries.
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