Injuries on the field, where is medical personnel?

[bring'nheat]

Played in Vegas this weekend but that didn't stop the text messages from coming in. It is unfortunate that any player gets injured, but why is there not qualified medical professionals on standby such as football. Heard the girl with the neck injury had helmet removed and was walked off of field. If thats true, parents should thank God she can still walk.

Prayers go out to those tough players that were injured and hope for a speedy recovery.

[NorCal96]

I haven't been around softball that long but I have never seen emergency personnel at the fields. Has that ever been the case? Having them would add cost to the tourney and no one wants that either.
We sure did need them at Arnaiz this past weekend. While I was there, an ambulance was called three times, once on Saturday and twice on Sunday. Crazy.

Healing thoughts to all the players injured this weekend. Hope to see you on the dirt again soon.

[Iluvblue]

We can have anything you want, but if you think your tourney fees are high now, add in a standby ambulance and see how much that costs. In any event, there is absolutely NO NEED for an ambulance standing by IMO.

Within 10 minutes the fire truck had arrived on one leg injury.

We had a girl dislocate her knee this HS season, amazingly, even though we actually had to wait 5 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, she was back playing the next week.

Now if a kid had a neck injury, and they took the helmet off........ how foolish is that?

By the way, any word on the injury to the Synergy player?

[Joe]

No problem...

In Texas...$50 per hour minimum for EMT and ambulance....$1200 - $2000 per event (20 teams)...

...$60 - $100 per team. Let your friendly TD know what you want and I'll bet he'll be happy to arrange it.

[Mr. Monday!]

I will say that the tournament directors need to address this situation. At the RR gold tourney there were no medical staff. They did not have a trainer around to help or be there in an emergency. I'm not just going after RR Gold but most major tourneys we have been to have no medical staff on hand. I know that the coaches are ACE certified, but thats just for basic first aid. If an org that puts on a major tourney and collect's at least $100,000 in entry fees. They can afford to have a trainer at each site! It is a major liability issue.......

[Iluvblue]

Serious question:
Kid breaks a leg this weekend, ambulance is immediately called and at site in 10 minutes.

So where is the liability?? Liability will only fall onto the tournament organizers if there is negligence. And NOT having a trainer or on site medical personnel is not negligence IMO.

[phxfan]

Not sure that medical personnel is necessary. Accidents happen, the adults in our family are first aid/cpr certified. Maybe you can talk to your coach about seeing if at least 2 parents on the team are first aid/cpr certified then you are protecting your own.

I dont think it is the responsibility of ASA to provide onsite medical. There is always 911 and I have never been to a tourney, where at least 1 person I knew wasn't cpr/first aid cert. (me)

[bring'nheat]

Ok...I get and understand the whole cost issue of having medical personnel on site. I also get that there is a fire department down the street from Arnaiz. Yes, all ASA coaches must be ACE certified but that doesn't cover a lot of medical issues. Guess my big issue is with (and if there is any truth to it) the fact that the player who sustained a neck injury had her helmet removed and was walked to the dugout. Last time I checked, anytime there was ANY head/neck injury or question of injury...the player was not to be moved or have helmet removed.

My oldest son (off in college) played travel baseball. At one particular game a teammate was injured and coaches cleared the field, called 911 and held onto his head as not to move it. In the meantime, an announcement went out for medical personnel in stadium. Luckily on field behind us, 2 mothers who were nurses watching their own kids games came over to help until EMS arrived. Good thing as the player had a cracked vertebra.
Point in all of this...with the number of parents in attendance at these larger tournaments, what do you think the odds are that there is someone present with a medical background?

[GSB]

I have seen many injuries both minor and major on the fastpitch field. I even witnessed my own daughter dislocate and fracture her hip on the field. I witnessed two girls take line drives to their faces with one staying in intensive care for 6 weeks. I saw an outfielder miss a pop up and take it in the forehead, knocking her out for over 30 minutes. There is absolutely nothing that having medical personnel standing by helps. In most cases in California, paramedics are less then 10 minutes away if needed. I have yet to hear of any injury on the field that having the paramedics waiting at scene helped in any way.

Maybe it helps the overprotective type parents to know they are there. It does absolutely nothing to help an injured player or aid in their recovery. Any coach worth a salt will maintain a first aid kit for minor injuries. If your coach does not have one, I would rethink playing for him/her.

[lvtwft]

Most tourneys you will go to has a parent in the stands that is trained in ALS (Advanced life support ) as bring'nheat said.
Might not be on your field but close by. For my team we have a medic and a nurse that come to all of our games.
This does not take into account all the parents that are CPR certified and or have advance life saving skills at the fields.
As GSB said you have a paramedic 10 min away in California, you could probably cut 2-6 min off that time for fire fighter rescue truck to pull up if there was a 911 call.
If you do not have a parent and or coach on your team that knows some ALS, pay for the class and have them present at all your games.
I am glad we have them on our team; it not only works for the girls at the games but practice as well. They have also been kind enough to help other people that have needed their help at tourneys.
I am all for safety but I do not see the need to have an ambulance on standby at the fields.
Also if there was an injury, would they stop the tourney until they return??