Chapter 7
Emergency Plan and Initial Injury
Evaluation
Emergency Plan
• Proper planning is essential to ensure
appropriate initial first aid management of an
injury.
•
• Failure to have an emergency plan is grounds
for negligence.
Emergency Plan
Components
The emergency plan:
• Identifies personnel directly involved in
carrying out the plan.
•
• Establishes a mechanism for
communication.
•
• Incorporates local emergency care
facilities.
Emergency Plan
Components (cont.)
The emergency plan:
• Specifies documentation needed to
support plan implementation and
evaluation.
•
• Is reviewed by the administration and legal
counsel of the sponsoring organization or
institution.
The Emergency Team
Members of the emergency team are personnel
directly involved in interscholastic sports
programming (high school level), including:
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•
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•
Functions of Emergency
Team Members
Members of the emergency care team are
responsible for:
• Immediate care of athlete.
•
• Activation of EMS, if necessary.
•
Emergency Plan
Plan should be comprehensive and include:
• Procedures for both home and away events.
•
• Locations of phones (school personnel
should have cell phones).
• Emergency phone numbers.
•
• Access points for EMS.
First Aid Training
• All personnel should be trained in
basic _______, _____, & ____use.
• Training should be conducted by
nationally recognized organizations,
e.g., the American Heart
Association.
•
• Personnel should have periodic
“mock” emergency drills to rehearse
the plan.
© Phototdisc
Injury-Evaluation
Procedures
Coach’s responsibility is the immediate care of
acute injury—this is ________.
• Coaches will be seen as “first responders”
and should focus on providing care to the
extent of their training.
•
• By law, coaches are most often held
accountable for proper care when no
physician or athletic trainer is present.
Injury-Evaluation Procedures
Coaching personnel should have BLS training
that focuses on life-threatening situations.
Primary BLS skills are:
•
•
•
•
Coaches must distinguish minor from major
injuries.
Initial Check
• The initial check must include assessments
of:
–
–
–
–
Initial Check: Nervous
System
Is the athlete responsive?
__________________
• Alert and aware
• Verbal stimulus response
• Painful stimulus response
• Unresponsive to any stimulus
Initial Check: Nervous
System (cont.)
Is the athlete responsive?
–
If spinal or head injury is suspected, immobilize
head and neck immediately.
Initial Check: Airway
Assessment
Ask athlete a simple
question.
• A response indicates at that
time the airway is ______
and _________ is adequate.
• If athlete is _________ and
has no apparent serious
head or spinal injuries:
– Use head-tilt/chin lift
method (___ ____ ______
helmet or face mask).
Initial Check: Airway
Assessment (cont.)
If the person is not breathing
and spinal or head injury is
suspected:
-
Initial Assessment:
Breathing
Breathing Assessment
• Conscious athlete is
breathing but must be
monitored.
•
• Look, listen, and feel for
air flow.
Initial Survey: Circulation
Assessment
• Responsive athlete who is breathing will have
signs of circulation.
• If athlete is unresponsive, breathing,
coughing, and movement in response to
rescue breaths are signs of circulation.
•
Initial Survey: Hemorrhage
Assessment
Most external bleeding is __________.
• Control with direct pressure, elevation,
pressure points, and/or pressure
bandage.
-Internal hemorrhage is difficult to detect.
Initial Survey: Hemorrhage
Assessment (cont.)
An early sign of internal hemorrhage is
______________ shock. Signs include:
• .
• Rapid shallow breathing.
• .
• Blue skin inside lips and under nail beds.
Shock is a true medical emergency.
Physical Exam
Observation
• Continually monitor for signs of breathing and
circulation.
• .
• Note signs and symptoms relating to the injury.
• .
Shock
Signs and symptoms include:
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Treating Shock
• Have athlete lie down (supine) with legs
elevated about 8 to 12 inches.
• Cover the athlete with a blanket (if
environment is such that loss of body heat is
possible).
•
• If spinal injury is suspected, do not move the
athlete.
Taking Medical History
• Keep questions simple and brief— “yes” or “no”
answers.
• Use easy-to-understand terms; avoid questions
leading to a preferred answer.
• .
• Ask athlete what happened. Ask if there were
any strange sounds when injury occurred. If
athlete is in pain, ask where it hurts.
•
• Present history to medical personnel.
Palpation
Palpation:
• If practiced, is a useful skill to find deformity,
spasm, swelling, etc.
•
• Should be performed carefully to avoid
aggravating existing injuries.
•
• Begin with the uninjured limb, if the injury is to
an extremity.
Removal from Field or Court
• If athlete is conscious and has no injuries that
preclude walking, he or she may leave field
under own power but with assistance.
•
• If athlete is unconscious or may have neck
injury:
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• Unless athlete is likely to be injured further, do
not move prior to EMS arrival.
Return to Play?
•
• Athletes suffering from heat-related problems
should be removed from participation and
cleared for return only by a medical
professional.
The Coach’s Limitations
• Coaches must take special care _____ to
overstep the bounds of their training and
expertise when managing an injury.
• Coaches should_____ provide first aid care
and should avoid performing any procedure
that is ______________________________
_________________________________.