GREENWICH — The police report on the accidental death of hockey player Teddy Balkind during a game at Brunswick School in January has been released, showing the efforts made to try to save the life of the wounded teenager.
Balkind, 16, a sophomore at St. Luke’s School, died after his neck was cut by another player’s skate on the Brunswick ice Jan. 6, according to the medical examiner’s report. The police report concluded the incident, which brought an outpouring of support for the Balkind family and those close to him from across the world, was an accident and closed the case.
The tragedy also drew nationwide attention to the issue of safety for players engaged in contact sports, the type of safety equipment used at hockey games and what kind of emergency medical personnel are on call at sporting events.
According to the police report, Brunswick did have an athletic trainer present at the game, as they do for all contact sports, but there was no ambulance on standby. The Brunswick trainer told police the school does not typically have an ambulance or doctor on the scene for hockey games but typically does for football games.
It is still unclear, however, if Balkind was wearing a neck guard, a piece of protective equipment that is not required by the league which governs prep schools including St. Luke’s and Brunswick although the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the state’s governing body for high school sports, does.
In the wake of Balkind’s death, a friend of his started a Change.org petitionwhich currently has more than 130,000 signatures, to make neck guards mandatory in USA Hockey. A state lawmaker also introduced legislation to require neck guards for all young hockey players in Connecticut and the state General Assembly considered creating a task force to study the issue of safety in youth athletics, with particular focus on the use of neck guards in ice hockey. Neither legislative effort was successful.
The police report, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Hearst Connecticut Media, states that spectators at the rink watching the hockey game between St. Luke’s and Brunswick knew something horrible had happened almost immediately after a Brunswick player made contact with Balkind, accidentally hitting his neck with his blade.
Within seconds, according to the report, a St. Luke’s coach hustled to the injured player, and the Brunswick athletic trainer who also works in the capacity of a school nurse went to assist. A volunteer firefighter with emergency medical training also helped apply pressure to the wound, the report stated.
The athletic trainer “grabbed his medical kit and rushed to the ice moving as quickly as he could to the injured player,” the report stated.
“911 was called immediately,” the trainer told police.
The rest of the players were directed to their locker rooms as the trainer and the St. Luke’s JV hockey coach assisted Balkind, but his pulse was getting weaker and weaker, they later told police. The St. Luke’s coach held Teddy’s hand and “tried to keep him conscious,” the report states. A member of Balkind’s family also went on the ice to assist and comfort him.
According to 911 logs from that day, six different people reported the medical emergency to dispatchers, some of their calls overlapping.
One of the coaches from St. Luke’s told detectives that “it seemed like a really long time for the ambulance to get to Brunswick,” the report states.
The report stated that the first 911 calls came in at 5:14 pm A Greenwich Emergency Medical Service (GEMS) unit arrived at “approximately” 5:20 pm the report states, and another medical unit also arrived about 10 minutes later. Balkind was transported to Greenwich Hospital at 5:31 pm
A GEMS administrator, when asked about the unit’s response time, said they responded last year to 97% of emergency calls in 8 minutes or less, with 74% of those calls in 5 minutes or less.
According to the report, Balkind was unconscious when he was taken into the ambulance, and medical technicians worked to restore a pulse.
The teenager was rushed into surgery at Greenwich Hospital, and he was later pronounced dead.
The manner of death was declared accidental by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Greenwich police concluded after interviewing numerous witnesses that the death was the result of a tragic accident and found no wrong-doing, and the case was closed in late May.
A spokesperson from St. Luke’s said the school recently received and is reviewing the police report.
“Our community remains grateful for the love and support that has helped us persevere through this devastating loss. Teddy made the world better with his beautiful spirit, which lives on in those who knew and loved him. The Balkind family recently created The Teddy Balkind Charitable Foundation to honor Teddy’s legacy. In a most fitting tribute to Teddy, the foundation will ‘promote joy’ through the support of local community and grassroots organizations,” according to the statement released by school spokeswoman Sara Aylward.
There was no immediate comment from Brunswick School. Efforts to reach the Balkind family for comment were not successful.
According to the report, witnesses had different vantage points of the incident and consequently told investigators somewhat differing accounts about how the injury occurred, but they all said it was caused when a player’s leg flung into the air during a scrum. In an effort to clarify what happened, police sought images and video on the incident. They still reviewed images taken by a photographer covering the game for Brunswick, but did not locate video of the incident.
The incident has generated questions about safety at events involving contact sports.
The report did not ascertain with certainty whether Balkind was wearing a neck guard, which is not required by the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council which oversees both Brunswick and St. Luke’s. The NEPSAC follows most rules of the NCAA, which in turn follows USA Hockey’s guidelines. Neither USA Hockey nor the NCAA mandates the use of neck guards.
When asked if NEPSAC is reconsidering its policy on neck guards, their communications specialist said, “As is our charge, NEPSAC continually examines rules of play that govern our sports in partnership with our Sport Medicine Advisory Committee,” the league said. “As always, we will share more with our community should our standards change.”
Investigators asked a referee about the neck protector. “He stated that the prep schools follow NCAA rules and they are not required. However, the officials do ask the coaches as they did today if all their players are properly equipped for the game and both teams assured the officials they were,” according to the report.
Detectives also spoke with the Brunswick trainer about medical emergencies, asking if there was a normal rotation of athletic trainers for the Brunswick sporting events and “if there is ever a standby medic unit or ambulance for the games.”
Protocol for responding to medical emergencies and injuries at high school sporting events can vary greatly depending on where the game took place, what sport is being played and a myriad of other factors. But throughout much of Connecticut, having an athletic trainer or other medical personnel present at most high school-level sporting events is not a requirement.
The Brunswick trainer told detectives “there is an athletic trainer present for all of the contact sports and there is a staff of four athletic trainers and they divide up the games for coverage … and he indicated that there is not an ambulance for hockey games , but for football games there is typically an ambulance and a doctor present,” according to the report.
When asked if they were considering having ambulances stationed at hockey games, Brunswick did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NEPSAC communications specialist did not respond beyond the provided comment about continually examining rules of play.
Includes prior reporting by staff writers Dave Stewart, Jeff Jacobs, Paul Doyle, Michael Fornabaio and Ken Dixon.
