Florida Senate - 2009                            (NP)    SR 2832
       
       
       
       By Senator Crist
       
       
       
       
       12-07401-09                                           20092832__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution encouraging the use of eye safety devices
    3         in youth sports.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, according to the American Optometric Association
    6  and other sources, eye injuries are the leading cause of
    7  blindness in children in the United States, and most of those
    8  occurring in school-aged children are sports-related, and
    9         WHEREAS, of the 1.6 million to 2.4 million Americans who
   10  sustain eye injuries each year, an estimated 40,000 will be
   11  legally blinded in the injured eye, with about one-third of
   12  these injuries resulting from sports, and
   13         WHEREAS, more than 100,000 eye injuries in the United
   14  States each year are estimated to be sports-related, and
   15         WHEREAS, sports-related eye injuries in the United States
   16  account for more than 100,000 physician visits yearly at a cost
   17  of $175 million, and
   18         WHEREAS, more than 42,000 of these sports-related eye
   19  injuries require a visit to an emergency room, and
   20         WHEREAS, every 13 minutes an emergency room in the United
   21  States treats a sports-related eye injury, and
   22         WHEREAS, an estimated 27 percent of all eye injuries in
   23  children aged 11 to 14 are sports-related, and
   24         WHEREAS, children younger than 15 years of age account for
   25  43 percent of sports and recreational eye injuries overall, and
   26         WHEREAS, the sports responsible for the greatest number of
   27  injuries are baseball, ice hockey, and racquet sports, and
   28         WHEREAS, baseball is the leading cause of sports-related
   29  eye injury among children aged 14 and younger, and
   30         WHEREAS, basketball is the leading cause of sports-related
   31  eye injury in athletes aged 15 to 24, and
   32         WHEREAS, the odds of an eye injury for basketball players
   33  are 1 in 10, and
   34         WHEREAS, soccer ball-related ocular injuries
   35  disproportionately affect young players, are more frequent in
   36  females, and have severe visual consequences, NOW, THEREFORE,
   37  
   38  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         That school districts, park and recreation departments, and
   41  other local, county, and state entities sponsoring organized
   42  sports activities are encouraged to make participants and legal
   43  guardians aware of the dangers to children’s eyes.
   44         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that school districts, park and
   45  recreation departments, and other local, county, and state
   46  entities sponsoring organized sports activities provide
   47  information to participants and legal guardians about the use of
   48  protective eyewear as a means to reduce the risk of significant
   49  eye injury.