The Athletic Director's Heat Season Checklist

Most of what decides a heat emergency happens weeks before it. Someone bought the tub or didn't. Someone wrote down who calls 911 or didn't. Someone told the coaches when practice changes in the heat or left it to each coach's judgment on the day. Those are athletic director decisions, and they're easier to make in the off-season than in August.

This checklist is for athletic directors, league administrators and anyone who signs off on how a program runs. Work through it once a year, and again any time you add a venue, a sport or a new group of staff.

1. Put the heat plan in writing

• Have one written emergency action plan for every venue, not one for the whole program. Each field has its own address, gate, AED location and cooling spot.
• Write the heat rules down: how you check the heat at the field, who checks it, and what changes when it gets hotter (shorter sessions, more breaks, less gear, moving the time, or calling it off). If your thresholds aren't set yet, mark them as a gap and set them with your medical staff before the season.
• Put the first-two-weeks plan in writing. Athletes need time to get used to the heat, and new or returning athletes need it most.
• Keep a copy of each plan at the venue, not only in the office.

The free emergency action plan builder from National Stay Cool Day will produce a venue plan you can print.

2. Buy the cooling setup before you need it

Exertional heat stroke is 100% survivable when the athlete is cooled fast, on site. The standard is cold-water immersion with ice agitation, started within 10 minutes, bringing the body to about 102°F within 30 minutes. Cool first, transport second. None of that can happen if the tub and the ice aren't already at the field.

• Every venue that hosts hot-weather sessions needs a tub (or a tarp as a backup), a water source that can fill it, and a plan for ice.
• Decide who brings the ice, how much, and when. Put a name on it.
• Decide who sets the tub up before each session, and when it gets filled.
• Budget for it now. Ice for a season, a tub per venue and replacement tarps are line items, not extras.

3. Name the people, not just the roles

A plan that says "staff will call 911" doesn't tell anyone what to do. For every session, someone should know they are the one who:

• calls 911 and stays on the line,
• starts cooling the athlete at the same time,
• runs for the AED,
• meets the ambulance at the gate and walks the crew in,
• keeps the rest of the team away and supervised,
• calls the athlete's family.

Call 911 and cool at the same time. Neither waits for the other.

4. Train the adults who will be there

• Make sure every coach and regular volunteer can recognize heat illness and knows the plan for their venue.
• Check who is current on CPR and AED use. Keep a list with expiry dates.
• Teach the one number everyone should know: 104°F is where the body loses its ability to regulate its own temperature. An athlete who is confused, collapses or acts strangely in the heat is treated as heat stroke until proven otherwise.
• Make sure staff know that cold towels, fans and shade are not treatment for heat stroke. Immersion is.

5. Rehearse it

• Run a live drill at each venue before the first hot session, with the actual staff who will be there.
• Time how long it takes to get the tub filled and an athlete in it. If it's slow, fix the setup, not the drill.
• Run it again mid-season, especially if staff have changed.

6. Set the rules for gear and schedules

• Decide when helmets and pads come off or stay on in the heat, and tell the coaches before the season, not on the day.
• Look at the practice calendar. Two hard sessions in a row in the hottest part of the day is a scheduling choice you can change.
• Give coaches the authority to shorten or stop a session for heat without being second-guessed.

7. Tell families and visiting teams

• Share your heat rules with parents at the start of the season, so they know why a session might change.
• Ask families to tell coaches when an athlete is sick, short on sleep or just back from time off.
• When you host, tell visiting teams where the cooling spot and AED are. When you travel, ask the host the same questions.

8. Keep records

• Log the heat check for every hot session and what was changed because of it.
• Log drills: date, venue, who took part, what went wrong.
• After any heat incident, even one that ended well, sit down with the staff involved and write down what worked and what didn't. Update the plan.

Before the first hot practice

• A written plan at every venue, with names.
• A tub, water and ice at every venue that needs them.
• Heat rules written down and shared with coaches and families.
• CPR and AED training current for the adults on site.
• A drill run at every venue.
• A log ready to fill in.

Go further

National Stay Cool Day has free tools for schools and programs, including the emergency action plan builder, at nationalstaycoolday.com. To talk to the Council about your program, get in touch.