Adaptive and Unified Sports: A Heat Plan That Works for Every Athlete

Your state association, school district, league or sport's governing body may have its own rules for adaptive and unified programs. Follow those first. This page is about making your heat plan fit the athletes you actually have.

Start with each athlete

Before the season, sit down with each athlete and their family. Ask:

• How does this athlete usually show they are tired, hot or not feeling well?
• Do they use words, signs, a device or a picture card to communicate?
• Has the athlete's doctor said anything about heat, exercise or medicines that coaches should know?
• What equipment do they use, and what has to come off or stay on in an emergency?
• Who should we call first if something happens?

Write the answers on one page for each athlete. Keep a copy in the coach's bag and one with whoever runs the cooling tub. Health details stay with the staff who need them, and your school or league's privacy rules apply.

Don't wait for an athlete to say something

A standard heat plan often counts on athletes speaking up. On an adaptive or unified team, some won't or can't. That means adults have to look, not just listen.

• Know each athlete's normal, so you notice when something is off.
• Watch for confusion, stumbling, acting strange, not making sense or collapsing. Those are reasons to stop the athlete right away.
• Give every athlete a simple way to ask for a break, like a card, a hand signal or a word they already use, and practice it before it gets hot.
• Pair athletes with a buddy or a set adult who checks on them at every water break.
• Any adult can pull any athlete who looks wrong. No one argues about it on the field.

Plan breaks for everyone

• Build water breaks into the practice plan instead of waiting for athletes to ask.
• Make sure water and shade are easy for every athlete to reach, including athletes who use a wheelchair or walker.
• Have help ready for athletes who need assistance to drink.
• Check wheelchairs, seats and other equipment left in the sun before athletes use them. Metal and dark surfaces can get hot.
• Have a cooler, shaded spot nearby for athletes who need to sit out.

Plan how each athlete gets into the tub

Exertional heat stroke is 100% survivable when cooling starts fast, on site. For some athletes, the slowest part of that will be getting them out of a chair or out of equipment and into the water. Work that out now, not during an emergency.

• Decide how many adults it takes to move each athlete safely, and who they are.
• Know how to take off or unbuckle any equipment quickly.
• Put the tub where a wheelchair can get right up to it, on flat ground.
• Practice the move with your staff, without the athlete in the water, so it isn't the first time when it counts.

The cooling order

This doesn't change for any athlete:

1. Call 911 and cool at the same time. One person calls while others start cooling.
2. Start cooling within 10 minutes. Cold water with ice agitation, with the goal of about 102°F within 30 minutes. At 104°F the body loses its ability to regulate its own temperature.
3. Cool first, transport second.
4. Gear: remove anything you can quickly but don't delay cooling because of gear removal.

When you call 911, tell them about any condition, device or communication need the athlete has. The person who meets the ambulance should have the athlete's one-page sheet in hand.

Unified teams and partners

On unified teams, partners can be a big help. Teach them what to watch for and how to get an adult. But partners are teammates, not staff. An adult still runs the heat plan, makes the heat call and leads the cooling.

A quick check before the first hot practice

• Does every athlete have a one-page sheet, and do the right staff have it?
• Does every athlete have a way to ask for a break, and have they practiced it?
• Can every athlete reach water and shade?
• Do you know how each athlete gets into the tub, and has your staff practiced it?
• Does every staff member know the cooling order?

Where to go next

Use the coaches page for a daily heat routine, the written heat policy guide to put your plan on paper, and the preseason staff meeting agenda to walk your staff through it. The free National Stay Cool Day EAP builder can help you write an emergency action plan for each venue. For questions about the Council, contact us.