How Your Association Can Manage First Aid Practices

First Aid Practices

What is First Aid?

First Aid is the assistance provided for an injury or illness in the first instance. Associations have a duty of care to respond appropriately in the case of injuries, illness or emergencies;the assistance can be provided by anyone,howeverit is recommended that Associations have trained First Aid Personnel. All persons treated by Association First Aid Personnel should be referred to medical professions for diagnosis and further treatment.

How your Association can Manage First Aid Practices

It is important to have a plan in place that covers the process for the provision of first aid at your association. Someone should be allocated to maintain the First Aid Kit supplies and ensure that they are maintained appropriately. An inventory should be completed on a weekly basis, especially during competitions.

Attached to this fact sheet are templates for your consideration to assist in ensuring practices are reasonable and maintained. They include:

• Register of First Aid Accredited people at the Association
• Template First Aid Policy
• First Aid Reporting Sheets

First Aid & Sports Trainers

There are many different organisations that provide courses and further training in First Aid and Sports Training. Sports Medicine Australia (SMA): Provide the benchmark for Sports Medicine and First Aid in Australia. SMA offers training for both First Aid and Sports Trainer courses. Information is available via their website

Other organisations such as St Johns Ambulance and Red Cross also provide recognised First Aid and Sports First Aid Courses.Alpha Sport: Alpha Sport is Netball Queensland’s preferred supplier of First Aid Equipment. Netball Queensland Members are eligible for preferential pricing. You can visit Alpha Sport at this website

What you offer during training and competitions

When creating a First Aid Policy for your Association you need to consider two main things: First Aid Personnel and First Aid Facilities. The size of your Association and the availability of you facilities will be a determining factor in these decisions. What you provide may also change between competitions and training times. Below is some information on both personnel and facilities for your consideration.

Personnel / What they can offer
Sports trainers / It is recommended by Sports Medicine Australia that every Netball sporting competition and/or event have at least one Level 1 Sports Trainer available. This is a recommendation supported by Netball Australian and Netball Queensland. Sports Medicine Australia provides a list of available Sports Trainers on their website who are able to be contacted. A fee is charged.
Local community partnerships: / You may have partnerships with local schools, TAFEs and universities. Sports Medicine & related courses are becoming more widely available and often require practical components. You may like to team up with an education institution and provide an opportunity for students to gain some supervised practical training. This may be in first aid or in sports medicine.
Your own membership: / You may have members who are already, or are willing to become, an accredited Sports Trainer or First Aider and would be willing to take on this role within your Association during competition times.
Association Officials: / If you require an Association Official to be present at your facilities when they are being used then maybe they are also required to act as the First Aid Officer.
Team Officials: / Each team should have a person appointed to look after the health and wellbeing of the players (generally referred to in competition as the Primary Care Person or PCP). At trainings someone associated with the team should have First Aid qualifications (be it the coach, manager or PCP).
Facilities / Recommended Equipment needed
First Aid Room / You may have the ability to have a dedicated room for the provision of First Aid. Sports Medicine Australia provides guidelines for what should be considered in a First Aid Room. These guidelines include the following information.
Rooms should:

• have easy access to toilets
• be located in a position that allows access for ambulance
• provide privacy for person being treated
• have access to hot & cold water
• provide a bed/couch/chairs, pillow and blankets for treatment of injured participant
• the room or area should be kept clean and accessible at all times

First Aid Area / If you are not in a position to have a room then an area that is covered and provides protection from the elements may be considered. The guidelines for a First Aid Room should also be used, as much as they can, in establishing a First Aid Area.
Access to a telephone / A telephone to contact emergency services if needed. The address of the location, nearest cross roads, and access points are recommended to have with the telephone as these will be asked by emergency services.
Access to water & Ice / Bags of Ice or Gel Ice Packs. Access to water: both drinkable cold water and water for cleaning and cooling an injured or ill person.

Medications

All prescription medications and products such as Ventolin, Panadol or Aspirin, antifungal creams and powders, antibiotic creams and ointments, anti-inflammatory tablets and sunscreen should be supplied by the individual participant.

Injury Recording

Accurate recording of injuries/illness is of benefit to the injured/ill person, medical personnel and the Association. There are two types of reporting that you should consider having, a reporting form and a record log.

A reporting form is of great assistance in giving treatment and there are many different format types for reporting. This form is something you can give to the injured/ill person so they have a record of what occurred. First Aid Organisations and the Australian Sports Commission all have templates that you can use. If however you decided to create your own the following should be included:

• date and time of the incident
• personal details (such as name, address, date of birth, team/club)
• any history of injury/illness that may relate to the current situation
• observations (symptoms, changes in vital signs etc)
• First Aider’s assessment of the injury/illness
• any treatment given
• further care recommendations (e.g. rest/go to hospital/ambulance called)

A Record Log of all treatment that has been provided and of injuries/illnesses that have occurred at the Association should be kept. This assists the Association in many ways, including if an account of treatment provided is required for insurance purposes orreview of injury statisticsfor facility planning. Your log should include similar information as collected on the reporting form, such as:

• name of person being treated
• date, time & location of the incident
• date, time & location of the treatment
• name of person providing treatment
• summary of the incident
• summary of the treatment
• post treatment recommendations given

Further information on reporting forms and reporting logs can be found on the SMA website, ASC website or by contacting Netball Queensland.

Return to Play

Does your Association have a return to play policy or procedure in place? In the event of a serious injury or illness occurring it is recommended that participants are not allowed to return to training or games before gaining clearance from a medical professional(a Medical Doctor or Physiotherapist will be able to provide this clearance).

References

Sports Medicine Australia

Alpha Sport