GREENSBORO, N.C. — A 15-year-old Page High School junior varsity football player died after being injured in a game on Sept. 10, WFMY News reported.
Davion Well was hurt early in the game and was treated on the sideline before being transported to the hospital. He died a few days later, on Sept. 13.
Following news of Well’s passing, the school released a statement:
“On Thursday night, a Page High School student sustained an injury while participating in a football game and immediately received medical attention from trained personnel on-site. The student was transported to the hospital for treatment and later passed away.
Guilford County Schools is saddened by the loss to our school community. Our thoughts are with their family, teammates, coaches and classmates. The district crisis team will be on campus this week to support students and staff, and the district stands ready to assist the family.
Out of respect for the family and in accordance with student privacy requirements, we will not share additional details.”
Some in the community questioned why there was not an ambulance stationed at the game. According to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), ambulances are not required at every high school football games, though Guilford County EMS officials said there are ambulances on site for specific games, such as the area’s East-West All-Star events.
NCHSAA does require the presence of a licensed trainer or qualified first responder at every football game.
On the day of the game, a 911 call was placed at 7:17 p.m. to report an injured player, and Greensboro Fire personnel were on scene by 7:21. A Guilford County EMS ambulance arrived at 7:26.
Does your town require an ambulance on site for local sporting events?
EMS1 readers respond
“Yes! I’ve done both football and soccer ambulance stand-by for 26 years and treated a number of injured players. However, the county emergency medical services my volunteer squad was under thought of has a threat and had our funding cut. This my squad was forced out of business so we’re the standby coverage at all high schools in the county.”
“No, but the county I work in hires EMS to have a unit at as many games as possible. There’s just too many schools to cover on a Friday night. In the case of the N.C. player, however, it sounds like a transport unit on site wouldn’t have made any difference in the outcome.”
“All football games are covered by minimally a licensed trainer or a first responder from their local agency. Transport rigs are on site when feasible, but that is a small percentage of games. In our area there are not enough ambulances available to cover all of the games on multi-game nights.”
“No. We have 4 high schools in our relatively rural county. We do not have the staff or ambulances to dedicate personnel to a high school football game. After over 34 years in the business my thoughts are that if the event you are participating in is so dangerous that you need an ambulance to be onsite you should not be taking part in such a dangerous activity!”
“Yes they do.”
