1. OSSA SAFETY TASK GROUP 2012-2013 Season Overview OSSA AGM May 24 & 25, 2013

2. SIMEC Mandate: Establish priorities and make recommendations to Speed Skating Canada (SSC) regarding the development and implementation of policies and procedures pertaining to sport injury and medical emergencies EAP, SSC Return to Play, Protective equipment, Concussion policy, concussion information, crash mat specifications Websites: Red Book: www.speedskating.ca/red-book-1www.speedskating.ca/red-book-1 SIMEC: http://www.speedskating.ca/sport-injury-and- medical-emergency-committeehttp://www.speedskating.ca/sport-injury-and- medical-emergency-committee

3. OSSA Safety Task Group Established at the 2012 OSSA AGM Mandate: That OSSA create a safety Task Group to work under the Officials Development Committee. The task group would include members from various member clubs. The group would investigate safety topics including concussions, with a provincial perspective with the goal of creating and implementing a plan to identify methods to promote safety and reduce the risk and impact of injury

4. Members Vince Carruthers (Cambridge) Janique Gagnon (Gloucester) Dave Hickman (K-W) Mark Miyasaki (Cambridge) Anne Marie Malcolm (Brampton) Jeanne Preudhomme (Toronto) John Van Lierop (London)

5. What have we been up to…? Guidelines & Procedures “When In Doubt, Pull Them Out” Do No Harm “Policy” Straw documents? Website: www.ontariospeedskating.ca/safetywww.ontariospeedskating.ca/safety

6. What we have been up to… Competition Presence and Resource Presentation at 2012 OSSA AGM Presence at Provincial Series 1 & 4 (Cambridge), Junior Trials, Provincial A Championships Contact for assistance with SSC crash mat guidelines:  Minimum specs  Timelines for implementation  Amended document o OSSA communicated concerns to SSC o STG members had opportunity to discuss and provide feedback

7. Our Direction for 2013-2014 Ice quality Concussion policy Officials will have all skaters who fall checked out when leaving the ice

8. WANTED!! Liaison Person from Each Club

9. 2012-2013 Injury Reports Total reports received at OSSA: 44 (up from 9 last year) Gender Breakdown: 14 female, 29 male, 1 unknown 36 of 44 injuries reported were from skaters at competitions. Reporting is improving but still not a good picture of what is happening during club practices. Received reports from 12 clubs (KW, Quinte, Ottawa (ST & LT), Brampton, Gloucester, Kingston, Newmarket, Clarington, Oakville, Milton, Toronto, Markham) Skaters had 2-10 years of skating experience No visible trend: 4 Beginner; 17 Intermediate; 18 Advanced; 5 unknown skill level.

10. Reporting (continued) Types of Injury:  Cut or laceration to body:8  Sore back or neck:5  Face hit ice:2  Bruised leg:2  Fracture (ankle):1  Ankle damage (twist or sore):7  Head discomfort / Suspected concussion: 6  General uneasiness reported:5  Other:7

11. Reporting (continued) Location of incident:  Fall before apex: 4  Fall after apex: 23  Fall on straight: 1  Collision with other skater: 6  Other: 8

12. Reporting (continued) Ages and Genders: 8 years:1 male 9 years:1 male, 1 female 10 years:1 male, 2 female 11 years:1 male 12 years:3 male, 2 female 13 years:1 male, 2 female 14 years:4 male, 1 female 15 years:6 male, 2 female 16 years:3 male, 1 female

13. Reporting (continued) 8 years:1 male 9 years:1 male, 1 female 10 years:1 male, 2 female 11 years:1 male 12 years:3 male, 2 female 13 years:1 male, 2 female 14 years:4 male, 1 female 15 years:6 male, 2 female 16 years:3 male, 1 female

14. Innovative Mat Systems – Examples from Toronto and Cambridge Overview: Mat adoption system in Toronto New half mats addresses:  Safety  The Junior Trials experience o Reduced injuries Cost Storage/logistics – 2 rink experience Overcoming obstacles

15. Benefits of Short (Honeycomb) Mats Augment your current mats with another layer of padding: works as a shock absorber and significantly reduces injury Reduced cost of acquisition - $156 per mat  recommend 24 for NHL pad (cost $3,744 + shipping & tax)  recommend 30 for Olympic pad (cost $4,680 + shipping & tax) Reduced storage needs vs. a 2 nd (or 3 rd ) level of full size mats Reduced time on and off ice vs. full size mats Use “air” to work as a shock absorber: can leave up to 18” between mats and continue to get the honeycomb benefits Mat dimensions (Quebec Standard): 60 x 35 x 225 cm (23.6” x 13.78” x 88.58”)

16. Benefits of Short Mats (continued) Key difference between doubling up full mats vs half mats:  Board side mat within doubled up full mat system scoots up on impact, reducing skater padding protection  Front (full) mat folds over the half mat in collision, keeping half mat at ice level and maximizing padding during collision  NOTE: Quebec meet study, 2011-2012: 97% of falls have skaters hitting the mats at ice level, therefore maximizing protection at ice level is critical Increased shock absorption and reduced skater bounce-back into the rink NOTE: Short mats are mandatory in Quebec, but have not yet been “approved” by SSC

17. The Cambridge Experience New mat systems addresses : Safety – entire rink matted for competitions Storage/logistics Used for Provincial series #1 & 4 CSSC worked with KW for the Provincials

18. SSC Level 4 Mat System Observed Impacts from OSSA Provincial Series Meet #4 February 2 nd, 2013 Cambridge, ON

19. Two Person Impact

29. Compression shy of boards

42. Blue pad interrupts system flow by resisting inwards movement

58. Findings Hollow core (honeycomb) mats allow for greater compression, hence deceleration over a greater distance Compression of mats must not be to an extent where “bottoming out” can occur Mats should work together as a “system” and not a group of individually linked cells Mats should have unrestricted compressive movement and restricted movement in the recovery direction (securing string) Mats in relaxed state should not be pre-compressed

59. Conclusions A mat “system” can reduce the potential for injuries Hollow core half mats reduce peak forces on the skater Plan how you want your system to work Make reference to the SSC Red Book Ask questions…lots of questions

60. Concussion Protocol Updates: Cambridge and Toronto

61. Final Thoughts Ice quality More insight to follow in the new season (Vince) Do we want to have mini-sessions? STG Contact information is on OSSA website

62. Questions…?