The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR) conducts surveillance of catastrophic injuries and illnesses related to participation in organized sports in the United States at the collegiate, high school, middle school, youth, amateur and professional levels. The NCCSIR has historically obtained information largely from publicly available news media reports and national and state sport organizations, including the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). However, reliance on news media reports means that only the events covered by the media are captured. To maximize their effectiveness, surveillance systems should strive to actively capture health outcomes as they occur.
To promote a transition toward a more active and comprehensive surveillance model, NCCSIR and the Consortium for Catastrophic Injury Monitoring in Sport have developed a national centralized reporting site that allows anyone to report a catastrophic sport injury or illness. In an article for NFHS, Kristen L. Kucera, PhD, MSPH, LAT, ATC, details this national web-based portal (https://www.sportinjuryreport.org/) and how it collects reports from a variety of sources (e.g., athletic trainers, coaches, parents, athletes, spectators), and how it enables reporting of different injury types and the severity of those injuries.