Going Forward, District to Examine Outdoor Policies

The best news to report is clearly this:

All the football players stricken by the dangerous effects of hypothermia Saturday have been released from the hospital.

Even better, all of them were back in school on Monday, school officials said

The community's collective sigh of relief was tempered Monday night by the Plainview's concerns about preventing similar incidents in the future.

“Now, knowing what happened, we would have made a different decision,” said schools Superintendent at Monday night’s board meeting.

While the exact numbers are still being finalized, it appears 15 Plainview football players, three Valley Stream players and three adults were treated for the dizzying at halftime of Saturday's game. Twelve students and at least two of the adults were hospitalized. One adult remains under medical observation, Dempsey said.

Dempsey said a judgement call was made by the coaches, administrators and game officials to play the game. The intensity of the unusual October conditions, steady, icy rain and near freezing temperatures, were difficult to gage prior to the start of the game.

The game was halted at halftime with Valley Central leading 6-0, but apparently can not be resumed to a four-quarter conclusion, school officials said. Many players of the season.

With the chilling wind and rain of Saturday, the district moved the pre-game homecoming ceremony inside the gymnasium as well as the half-time show. But the game itself kicked off outside as planned about 1 p.m. By halftime, the victims, many shivering and disoriented, were suffering the dangerous effects of hypothermia.

Plainview was not alone in deciding to play Saturday. Dempsey determined that the vast majority of football games scheduled around Long Island went on as planned. Five districts decided to postpone their games until Sunday morning, he said. Some of the Saturday games saw players treated for exposure, as well.

Going forward, Dempsey said there were two basic issues to confront:

“Did we do all the right things as we faced this and I think we did,’ he said. “And we’ll be consulting with our staff about the future and what to do if we’re confronted with similar circumstances.”

Dempsey praised the coaching staff for their quick action in alerting emergency crews to the crisis. Plainview staff members visited students on both teams at Nassau University Medical Center following the incident.

School board President Gary Bettan echoed Dempsey’s words, saying “I can’t compliment our staff and coaches enough for what they did. They did everything right and made their number-one priority the health and safety of their kids.’

“We are very proud of the way our district responded to the emergency, he said.

No district residents spoke at the public question and comment period of the meeting.