Serious Injury Protocol for Minis

[Dan_A]

One of the u12s lads I coach had a knee disclocation yesterday. The referee did some common-sense things that, in retrospect, I'm not sure I'd have thought of in the heat of the moment. I figured I'd share them here to see if anyone can add further ideas or make use of the info, should they be in a similar situation.

The incident happened from a scrum collapse, almost certainly due to the very slippery conditions and relative inexperience of u12B level front five. As soon as the injury became apparent (you only had to look!!) the referee sent a runner to get the paramedics and made sure that the player didn't move. By this time both the lad's father and I had got to the player to just try to re-assure him and again keep him still. That left the referee to order both teams from the pitch back to their gazebos. He told them to keep away and he would come and find them when we were ok to restart.

The paramedics arrived in only a couple of minutes (thankfully the real mckoy, complete with gas and air), the referee took me to one side to check whether we wanted to continue. He also said that once the pitch was clear he would give us a few minutes to warm up and get ready to play again. Before we restarted he was re-assuring to both teams, and went through the scrum basics again (tight bind, CBSY9 etc).

In summary, the referee did the first aid bit quickly with no panic but as soon as that was done he was v thoughtful to keeping 11 yr old lads away from a nasty injury that would have caused them potentially lasting distress (I'm not going to forget it for a while, that's for sure). He then made sure everyone was comfortable to restart when the time was right.

Anyway, kudos to him and I hope the club pass on the email I sent. The lad is back at home after a general anaesthetic was needed to sort him out. Hopefully he'll be up and running before too long.

 

[Browner]

Every parents fear, I hope he recovers fully.

 

[Account Deleted]

Well done that man!

 

[didds]

great work!

if its in RFUland, the club concerned will need to fill in a serious injury report as well of course

didds

 

[crossref]

we have often observed that in a crisis it's much more useful to have a referee maintaining a calm head, and taking charge, than it is to have a referee with first aid skills. this story illustrates why.

 

[Taff]

we have often observed that in a crisis it's much more useful to have a referee maintaining a calm head, and taking charge, than it is to have a referee with first aid skills. this story illustrates why.

Impressive, but I am still not clear what obligation a team has to provide paramedics.

 

[menace]

Well done ref. a calm head was a real positive.

I only wonder if, considering the conditions you describe that caused the injury that, uncontested scrums when the game restarted might have been better from a safety perspective?

(Also, down here, there is no injury time for juniors, and since they are pliable and malluable 11 year olds, I probably would have dispensed offering a warm up so they could get more game time. )

 

[ianh5979]

One of the u12s lads I coach had a knee disclocation yesterday. The referee did some common-sense things that, in retrospect, I'm not sure I'd have thought of in the heat of the moment. I figured I'd share them here to see if anyone can add further ideas or make use of the info, should they be in a similar situation.

The incident happened from a scrum collapse, almost certainly due to the very slippery conditions and relative inexperience of u12B level front five. As soon as the injury became apparent (you only had to look!!) the referee sent a runner to get the paramedics and made sure that the player didn't move. By this time both the lad's father and I had got to the player to just try to re-assure him and again keep him still. That left the referee to order both teams from the pitch back to their gazebos. He told them to keep away and he would come and find them when we were ok to restart.

The paramedics arrived in only a couple of minutes (thankfully the real mckoy, complete with gas and air), the referee took me to one side to check whether we wanted to continue. He also said that once the pitch was clear he would give us a few minutes to warm up and get ready to play again. Before we restarted he was re-assuring to both teams, and went through the scrum basics again (tight bind, CBSY9 etc).

In summary, the referee did the first aid bit quickly with no panic but as soon as that was done he was v thoughtful to keeping 11 yr old lads away from a nasty injury that would have caused them potentially lasting distress (I'm not going to forget it for a while, that's for sure). He then made sure everyone was comfortable to restart when the time was right.

Anyway, kudos to him and I hope the club pass on the email I sent. The lad is back at home after a general anaesthetic was needed to sort him out. Hopefully he'll be up and running before too long.

Had the same thing at an under 17 game on sunday, unfortunately our hospital was not as efficient as yours(hospital 2 minutes from ground)paramedic arrived in about 20 minutes and the ambulance arrived after 45 minutes (game abandoned)

 

[didds]

Impressive, but I am still not clear what obligation a team has to provide paramedics.

IN England AIUI basically ... none. Eventually I suppose it will take an ambulance chaser to get that decisions made, but AIUI having a risk assessment that says something like

* nearest A&E = XXX
* nearest minor injuries unit = YYY
* nearest phopne = ZZZ
* coaches and admins to have a mobnile phone where practicable

will probably be sufficient to show that due process has been followed.

(that's not to say that 1st aid training shoulnd't be done!)

didds

 

[Dixie]

IN England AIUI basically ... none. Eventually I suppose it will take an ambulance chaser to get that decisions made, but AIUI having a risk assessment that says something like

* nearest A&E = XXX
* nearest minor injuries unit = YYY
* nearest phopne = ZZZ
* coaches and admins to have a mobnile phone where practicable

will probably be sufficient to show that due process has been followed.

(that's not to say that 1st aid training shoulnd't be done!)

didds

I think many clubs will need to go further than that, Didds. Those whose pitches are potentially accessible to vandals in stolen cars may well have taken steps to ensure that the field is not generally accessible to vehicles - in which case they'll need to have a gate large enough for an ambulance, an understanding of who holds the key to the gate's padlock, ideally the gate unlocked when games are in progress.

Although Health & Safety laws don't generally apply to activities on the pitch, a club can be sued for negligence. The courts will try not to hold volunteer sports clubs to too high a standard, but some things are pretty obvious and so need to be done. You can't leave iron spikes in the pitch after allowing someone to put up a marquee on it. You can't have metal drain covers a few inches from the touchline. And you can't prevent medics getting access to players in need of attention.

 

[Account Deleted]

We allow time for injuries, at mini & junior level, but not extra time. Although, in practice, few refs stop the watch unless the stoppage is likely to be fairly .

A report would be required. I always write one and advise the clubs as to it's content and the organiser, if a cup event. What they do is, of course, out of my control.