Lake Travis football player suffers medical emergency during first practice

A medical emergency cut short Lake Travis’ first football practice on Monday morning.

According to a social media post from Lake Travis athletic director and football coach Hank Carter, a student-athlete “experienced a serious health emergency which required the assistance of Travis County STAR Flight.”

Carter’s post, which appeared on all the football team’s social media platforms, indicated that the event happened at 8 a.m. and that first responders arrived within minutes of the call placed to 911.

“I am extremely grateful for our athletic training staff, coaches, (Lake Travis ISD police department) and the first responders who arrived on site within minutes of the call,” Carter wrote.

According to the Lake Travis practice calendar, the JV and varsity teams checked in at 6:30 a.m. and were scheduled to practice on the school’s upper grass fields from 7-9:30 a.m. Monday morning. Players wore helmets and no other pads and were less than an hour into what is typically a non-contact practice.

The incoming freshman football players were supposed to report at 8:45 a.m. and practice on the track stadium field from 9-11 a.m.

In the post, Carter said the day’s football activities had been cancelled following the incident. Lake Travis ISD Executive Director of Communications Marco Alvarado said the district had no other information as of noon. At 5:30 p.m. officials said they did not have any new details to release.

The post did not mention what caused the incident. Some comments – by 5:30 p.m. Monday the post had been seen nearly 2 million times - asked or speculated about a possible heat-related cause.

The University Interscholastic League has been very proactive in making sure schools know and follow new heat protocols and procedures. The protocols require the use of a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and direct schools to act accordingly depending on the temperature reading. The UIL site includes a link to a WBGT measurement system.

According to the WBGT readings for the 78738 zip code, where Lake Travis H.S. is located, the 8 a.m. index showed 80.4 in the full sun and 75.5 in the shade. Class 3 (geography-related) protocols state that schools can hold normal activities as long as the WBGT index remains at 82 or below while providing athletes with 3 rest breaks each hour that last at last 3 minutes each.