Saving face: doctors lobby to protect hockey players
CMAJ 2000;163(4):433
See also:
Correction: 5th paragraph – Canadian Amateur Society Association should be Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
For 18 years, Dr. Dennis Pitt has been trying hard to convince players in his own hockey league to wear masks that provide full facial protection. Realizing the difficulties he faced convincing individual players, Pitt changed his game plan. Since January he's been working with the 500-member Ottawa Academy of Medicine, the local branch society of the Ontario Medical Association, in an attempt to gather national support to encourage major hockey bodies like the NHL to make full facial protection mandatory. The issue gained national attention last March when Toronto Maple Leaf defenceman Bryan Berard, 23, was seriously hurt in one eye by an errant stick. The injury ended his career.
 | Toronto Maple Leaf player Bryan Berard, shown here after being injured, lost most sight in one eye when hit by a hockey stick last March. (Photo courtesy of Canapress) |
"We're very pleased with the response so far," says Pitt. The Canadian Ophthalmological Society and Canadian Dental Association will be supporting the campaign, and the issue was discussed at a meeting of NHL team physicians in July.
The Canadian Standards Association says more eye injuries are sustained in hockey than in any other sport. Between 1972 and 1997, 1860 such injuries were recorded, with 298 resulting in at least partial blindness.
A recent article in JAMA (1999;282[24]:2328-32) concluded that the risk of a facial or dental injury was 9.9 times greater for players wearing half-face shields instead of full-face ones. "The chin piece of the full-face shield also helps hold the helmet in place during impact, thereby maintaining maximum player protection from brain injury."
Health organizations have influenced hockey safety in the past. Data released by the Canadian Ophthalmological Society in 1994 persuaded the Canadian Amateur Society Association to require Canada's young hockey players to wear full-facial protection. However, once players reach junior age (16 to 20 years) and more senior levels, such as the NHL, they do not have to wear the full protective gear.
If there isn't significant progress by the winter, Pitt says the academy will renew its lobbying efforts. "This is the only way things will change," he says. "The players won't do it."
Physicians interested in joining the lobbying effort can phone the Ottawa Academy of Medicine, 613 733-2604; dawna.feeley@on.aibn.com — Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ
© 2000 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
