Emergency Plans
Lecture 5
Emergency Action Plans
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Emergency personnel (team)
 Team physician, therapist, coach , student therapists ,
local EMS
 This team will provide 1) immediate care of athlete, 2)
equipment retrieval , 3) activation of EMS, 4) directing
EMS to scene
Emergency communication
 Plan must be written out , procedure for home and
away must be outlined , plan must include location of
phones directions to contest site, access points for
the facility
Emergency equipment
 Stretches, spine boards, splints etc
Emergency Procedures
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serious injuries may be frightening, particularly
when breathing or circulation is impaired
as first person on the scene , you must evaluate
the situation , assess the extent and seriousness
other injury and recognize life threatening
conditions , and then provide the immediate
emergency care
although there are few sport related injuries of
this seriousness but they do occur so one must
be prepared
Reasons to activate EMS
Loss of consciousness
 Suspected cervical injury
 Unresponsiveness
 Need to establish an airway
 Performance of Recue breathing
 Performance of CPR
 Major bleeding
 Any obvious or suspected fracture
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Emergency Situations
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conditions or injuries that impair or have the
potential to impair breathing and circulation
primary / initial survey – determines
responsiveness , recognizes and identifies
immediate life threatening situations
ABC’S
secondary survey – involves a more hands on ,
detailed assessment from head to toe, looking
for other non life threatening injuries
Responsiveness
Before making any decisions about
rendering care it is essential that their level
of responsiveness be determined.
 AVPU
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–Alert and aware
 V- responds to verbal stimulus
 P- responds to Painful stimulus
 U – Unresponsive to any stimulus
A
Alert and aware – name , location time
etc
 Verbal – do they respond to verbal
communication
 Painful – do they respond to painful
stimulus , (pinching the skin , thumbnails
etc) response would be facial gestures ,
movement of limb away from pain
 Unresponsive – if athlete fails to show
any response to above they are said to be
unresponsive.
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Airway Assessment
Assess athlete breathing in position found
( look listen and feel)
 If not breathing try jaw thrust, if that does
not work use the head tilt chin lift
 Remember to check for foreign objects ,
do not sweep , if you can see it then try to
get out .
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Partial airway obstruction
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there is still some air exchange and individual
will be able to cough
will typically grasp the throat ( universal distress
sign )
do not interfere
stand by and encourage them to continue
coughing in attempt to dislodge obstruction
an ineffective cough or high pitched noise during
breathing should be treated as a total airway
obstruction
Total Airway Obstruction
 no air passing through, individual unable
to speak , breath or cough
 must react quickly to clear airway , and
stimulate breathing
 Abdominal thrusts if standing or chest
thrusts if lying down
Cardiopulmonary Emergencies
 cardiac arrest, determine if there is a
heartbeat… if not begin CPR.. AED’s
 S/S
 pain in the chest , radiating to both arms
(usually left) into neck , jaw or teeth, upper
back or superior middle abdomen
 shortness of breath , nausea, feeling of
impending doom
 medical emergency activate EMS
Unconscious Athlete
 head injuries leading cause of unconsciousness
in sports
 level of consciousness may very depending on
responses of individual to verbal and sensory
stimuli
 unconsciousness identifies an individual who
lacks conscious awareness and is unable to
respond to stimuli
 different methods of stimuli – pinching triceps,
rubbing knuckles on sternum
 if unconscious – check ABC’s and call
ambulance
Bleeding
 severe bleeding will cause a loss in blood
volume and decrease blood pressure
 this results in increased work load on the
heart (rapid weak pulse)
 arterial bleeding – bright red , usually
spurting
 venous bleeding – dark blueish – red –
steady flow
best controlled with direct pressure over
the wound
 elevate above the heart
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Internal bleeding
 usually the result of a blunt trauma, can
lead to shock if overlooked
 s/s – abdominal rigidity, Nausea,
discomfort
 emergency situation activate EMS
Fractures
 is a break in the continuity of the bone and
is classified as open or closed, depending
on if the skin is broken or not.
 obviously open fractures are worse
because the risk of infection
 swelling , bruising , deformities, shortening
of limb, guarding , point tenderness ,
grating or crepitus
 Ice and Immobilize , minor refer to
physician for x-rays , displace or more
severe fractures activate EMS
Splinting & Immobilization
 suspected #’s need to be splinted before a
person is moved
 most organized sports settings should be
prepared with commercial splints, but
outdoor pursuits rarely bring splinting
material --> make shift splints have to work
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Shock
shock can occur with any injury, serious or
non serious
shock is an acute life threatening
condition that involves the body’s
failure to maintain adequate circulation
to the vital organs ( hypovolemic)
rapid weak pulse, breathing rapid and
shallow
anxiety, disorientation , cold clammy moist
skin, profuse sweating and extreme thirst
Activate EMS
Shock
Treatment of Shock
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control any major bleeding and splint
fractures
if no head or neck injury is suspected –
elevate feet 8 to 12 inches
if individual vomits – place on side to avoid
blocking the airway
maintain body heat –remove wet clothing if
possible – cover with blanket
do not give individual anything by mouth
monitor vital signs
Activate EAP
Shock
Anaphylactic shock
 A sever reaction to a stimulus (allergen)
such as a bee sting , medication or food
 Must activate EMS immediately
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Anaphylactic shock
Secondary Survey
Obtain an accurate history SAMPLE
 S- signs and symptoms
 A- Allergies
 M – medications
 P- pertinent past history
 L – Last meal ( food & water)
 E – events leading up to the injury
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Secondary survey
Visually inspect
 Pupils ( PEARL)
 Mouth , nose , neck
 Palpate body from Head to Toe ( look for
bruising , swelling deformities)
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