Sports Pitchside Support

[IvanD]

Hey all,

I work as a first responder for club sports in my school, being pitchside support for rugby, lacrosse, ultimate and ice hockey.

Just have a couple of questions regarding treating on impact caused injuries,

1) In rugby, if someone goes down and doesn't get back up, should we assume head/neck/back injury for all patients? What if said player is hit high and you see his neck snap to the side, but when you reach player he says he feels no pain to his head neck or back, should you take his word for it or still assume neck injury?

2) What would you guys do other than remove from play if a player is suspected of suffering a concussion?

3) In a situation where advanced med care is available (I was trained as a WFR), if a player dislocates his shoulder, should we replace it? If we don't is there anything we can do until advanced medical care arrives? What about a compound fracture and limb is obviously deformed, should we pull traction pitchside and splint or leave until paramedics get here?

4) Would it be suitable to call in the paramedics for something like a fracture or dislocation? Or should they be treated and sent off to the doctor?

Thanks guys!

 

[JPINFV]

Hey all,

I work as a first responder for club sports in my school, being pitchside support for rugby, lacrosse, ultimate and ice hockey.

Your best bet would be to try and get in contact with a sports med physician or athletic trainer at your school.

Just have a couple of questions regarding treating on impact caused injuries,

1) In rugby, if someone goes down and doesn't get back up, should we assume head/neck/back injury for all patients? What if said player is hit high and you see his neck snap to the side, but when you reach player he says he feels no pain to his head neck or back, should you take his word for it or still assume neck injury?

Look up Canadian C-Spine criteria and National Emergency X-ray Utilization Study (NEXUS) criteria. Both are clinical spinal injury rule out criteria.

2) What would you guys do other than remove from play if a player is suspected of suffering a concussion?

Concussion? Sure. Spinal injury? Depends, but probably not.

3) In a situation where advanced med care is available (I was trained as a WFR), if a player dislocates his shoulder, should we replace it? If we don't is there anything we can do until advanced medical care arrives? What about a compound fracture and limb is obviously deformed, should we pull traction pitchside and splint or leave until paramedics get here?

If they are educated, trained, and authorized to reduce dislocations, sure. If the "advanced medical care" are physicians or athletic trainers, then sure. If they are just paramedics, then most likely they aren't educated/trained/authorized to reduce dislocations.

4) Would it be suitable to call in the paramedics for something like a fracture or dislocation? Or should they be treated and sent off to the doctor?

Thanks guys!

Depends on things like the athlete's wishes, disability (can they walk), pain, support (can someone drive them?), athlete's wishes, etc.

 

[IvanD]

Just wanted to clarify that most club sports here don't have athletic trainers/physicians that travel with them. Some don't even have coaches, this is why our school provides medical support for home games.

 

[JPINFV]

Does your school have any intercollegiate sports or just club sports?

 

[IvanD]

We have intercollegiate but club and varsity have no relations. None of the staff that work for intercollegiate are required to work for club (and they don't).

Sure we have trainers for football/baseball etc. but nope, they won't have anything to do with club sports.

And Rugby is where all sorts of crap happen, especially at the lower level of the spectrum (Div 3).

 

[94H]

As someone who did First Aid for a club Rugby team all I can say is if you think they have to go to the hospital they probably do. I sent an average of 2 people per game, anything from hypothermia to broken legs. The only people who should be popping the shoulder back in is the player (if its recurring) otherwise they should have a medical evaluation by a physician or ATC.

 

[JPINFV]

Sure we have trainers for football/baseball etc. but nope, they won't have anything to do with club sports.

Have you asked anyone over there if you could at least bounce questions off of them, or is this by reputation? "Hey, mind if I ask you a few questions?" is vastly different than, "Could you come work a game for us?"

 

[IvanD]

Interesting... Haven't actually thought of that before, no if I asked them I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to help.

 

[JPINFV]

Similarly, once you build rapport, ask if you can come shadow/help out at the intercollegiate games every once in a while. What you learn over there can apply to club sports. This way you're doing all of the hard work instead of asking them to do it. Furthermore, as you build connections, you never know what else can be worked out.

 

[Akulahawk]

IvanD: A lot of Colleges (including JC's) and Universities that have Athletic Trainers on staff will likely have some kind of "Intro to Sports Medicine" course. You will NOT be considered an athletic trainer after taking one of those courses... but you WILL have a far better understanding of how to approach all or most of those things you asked about.

One major reason the school's athletics departments won't cover clubs is liability. They don't want to be liable for injuries that occur outside the intercollegiate/college sponsored team environment.

If you take the "intro" class, you may learn quite a bit, and make contacts with the staff there which may allow you to shadow them and learn from them so that your clubs won't have to re-invent the wheel. Understand though, they will NOT provide any direct support.