8/01/01

Following is a story lead and the University of Northern Iowa sources who can best address this topic. Feel free to contact the sources directly.

From the sidelines, it might look like an athletic trainer's job is to bring water and tape ankles. But any trainer will tell you the job involves a lot more than that, especially when temperatures soar into dangerous ranges. Athletic trainers are taught to closely monitor training athletes during these hot months, to watch for heat stroke and exhaustion. Complications from the two conditions can sideline an athlete, or even cause death.

Darryl Conway, head athletic trainer at UNI, notes that high schools do not typically have trainers on duty during practices, so coaches and athletes should be well educated about the symptoms of heat stroke and exhaustion. "It's an issue that has to be taken seriously, and we've seen what happens when you don't pay attention to the symptoms," he says, referring to this morning's death of Korey Stringer, a player for the Minnesota Vikings. Stringer died after suffering complications from heat stroke.

Darryl Conway, head athletic trainer, UNI, (319) 273-6369

Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

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