By james art
BATON ROUGE — Scary video from a Baton Rouge Zydeco game Oct. 25 is raising concerns about the team’s injury response protocols.
With 4:25 left in the third period, with the Zydeco Hockey Team leading 3-0 over their opponent, Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Cater Eha blindsided a Zydeco defenseman with a foul shot in the open.
In videos captured by fans in attendance and shared on social media, Zydeco player Nick Ketola can be seen lying on the ice, seemingly unconscious for several minutes. In another video, a Zydeco player rolls a bed cart, usually reserved for transporting equipment and concessions, but Ketola ends up not being loaded into the cart.
In both videos, fans appear to be screaming and yelling for medical help to come onto the ice.
Zydeco game regular Rebecca Pfister attended the game on October 25th. She said UWK that a rescuer eventually got out onto the ice, but the incident shook her up.
“I had really good seats. I went to games all last season and nothing like this had ever happened before,” Pfister said. “It’s not like they were involved in a fist fight or anything, but a Sea Wolves player took a really, really good hit. I don’t know if it was dirty or whatever, but the guy he hit fell to the ground and laid on his back. You could see his hands shrinking and he grabbed in front of everyone. It wasn’t until the crowd started yelling at the refs like, ‘Hey, that guy’s hurt,’ that the game was stopped.”
Pfister said a Sea Wolves player checked on Ketola and eventually a team or arena medical professional came out, while Zydeco players looked visibly upset and knelt around him. However, Ketola stayed on the ice with little help for a full ten minutes, according to videos shared with UWK.
UWK confirmed with the Baton Rouge Fire Department that they received a call about an injured game player and that BRFD firefighters responded to the River Center and removed Ketola from the ice on a stretcher.
Curt Monte, BRFD public information officer, said that regardless of the response of arena or team medical personnel, it is not uncommon for someone with a potentially serious injury to remain on the scene until emergency responders can assess the situation.
“When you’re dealing with the type of injury that’s possible, you have to be very careful moving a patient, and it takes multiple people to make sure the patient doesn’t get hurt further,” Monte said. “As long as their vitals are good and you’re not dealing with a life-threatening situation, you take as much time as you need to package the patient properly so you don’t cause further harm.”
According to the Federal Hockey League’s website, Eha has been suspended for four games as a result of his actions.
“It was a very late, predatory hit by an unsuspecting player who was not eligible to hit. An injury resulted from this play,” FPHL Director of Player Safety Dave Jackson wrote in a press release.
According to Zydeco’s official Facebook fan account, Ketola has been placed on 15-day injured reserve and is expected to return later this season.
UWK contacted Acadian Ambulance who confirmed that they have a contract with the River Center but have not contracted with the Baton Rouge Zydeco Hockey team. They added that after being notified, their doctor who worked on the event responded to the ice for the player.
UWK reached out to Zydeco team president and general manager Don Lewis to inquire about the availability of team-funded medical personnel at Zydeco games, but Lewis did not return calls.
“I’ve heard (the response) has been slow, but I don’t know all the details. If the injury had been much more serious, it obviously would have been a bigger problem,” FPHL Commissioner Don Kiernan said. UWK. “It was a bad hit, a dangerous hit and I know the head of player safety imposed a very severe penalty.”
Kiernan also said that while it varies by state, every player in the league is covered by some form of health insurance, assuring UWK that Ketola will not have to pay any medical bills as a result of his injuries.
“No player has paid a medical bill as far as I know,” Kiernan said. “All players are covered. All injuries are covered. This is the responsibility of the team and the league. Everything is rigged.”
Kiernan said he has also spoken with Lewis and doesn’t anticipate further problems with medical responses in future games.
“Yesterday I spoke with the building manager about some other matters. He is a very competent person and I know the owner and have spoken to the general manager so they are aware of everything. I don’t expect any problems for the rest of the year,” Kiernan said.
Pfister said he still plans to attend future Zydeco games, but hopes the team prioritizes player safety going forward.
“I just want this team to keep going. I like having another activity in Baton Rouge. It’s family-friendly and quite affordable,” Pfister said. “I don’t want them to be closed, but there are several levels of concern. I feel it was handled poorly. That person could have been seriously hurt or killed, and that team could be gone if something like this or worse happened again.
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