Jan 4, 2018

Have a Plan

Nik Berger and Amy Bernard

It’s important to know how to treat an injured hockey player on the ice, but this information should be just one piece of a broader emergency action plan (EAP) for the ice rink. At Premier Health/Miami Valley Hospital in Centerville, Ohio, we collaborated with our local ice rink’s staff to develop our EAP for the facility.

These personnel are ideal to work with because they know the rink, the exits, how to control a crowd, what entrances to use to get on the ice, etc. They also know which jurisdiction their facility falls into, which is helpful in determining what emergency medical services (EMS) department will respond during an emergency.

Below is the EAP we compiled with our local ice rink staff:

1. The most qualified individual will provide appropriate acute care to the victim of the emergency situation.

2. This “qualified individual” will direct someone familiar with the facility to retrieve any equipment needed for the care of this particular emergency.

3. A third staff member will activate EMS by calling 911. This individual should have appropriate keys to unlock and open all gates and doors for the EMS team’s access to the venue. After contacting EMS, this individual should wait at the vehicle access site to the venue (main entrance) to “flag down” the EMS team and direct them to the emergency site.

Information this staff member will need:

• Their name

• Nature of the emergency

• Address and phone number of the location

• Any additional information asked for by the operator

• BE THE LAST TO HANG UP.

4. All available staff should assist the athletic trainers and emergency medical technicians with emergency care as directed. Any available staff who are not assisting in the care should oversee crowd management so as not to interfere with the emergency team.

Equipment and Entrance Locations:

• AED: Front counter or home bench during hockey games.

• Medical kit and supplies: Front counter.

• EMS vehicle access: Main entrance at east side of the building.

• Phone: Front counter, concession stand, or any available cell phone

Important Phone Numbers:

• Montgomery Co. EMS, 911

• Montgomery Co. Sheriff, 937-225-4357

• Washington Twp. Fire Dept., 937-433-3083

• Poison Control Center, 937-222-2227

• Southview Medical Center, 937-401-6000

This text first appeared in the feature article “Gut Check” in the October 2017 issue of Training & Conditioning.

Image by skeeze