What Makes a Great Coach?

Being  a coach in any sport is not an easy task, beyond being technically and tactically sound, what else can you do to become a better coach.  These are  few tips that came from instructing the Hockey Canada Safety Course. 

1) Be a Good Role Model - demonstrate to your athletes good life skills, teach them to win gracefully, learn from their mistakes and failures.  

2) Create a Safe & Respectful Environment - Not only will skills develop better when athletes feel safe, your athletes will achieve more success as those skills develop.  Respect plays a major role in safety be it respect for your competition, team-mates or training partners, the respect you give the athletes and show to other coaches and officials. 

3) Continue Education - Educate yourself. Take courses, be it to improve your technical or tactical repertoire as it is always important to fill your tool box.  It is also important to take courses or seminars that will improve player health, safety and well being.  First Aid, CPR, and injury courses, nutrition, goal setting, anything that can improve you or give you tools to improve your athletes is a benefit. 

4) Take in Account the Whole Athlete - We all at times forget that athletes are not just physical beings.  When we ask how they are doing we need to get beyond the skills, the techniques, the injuries or the performance.  The mental and emotional aspects of athletes can effect all of those.  Events that are occurring with family, friends or at school can weigh on how an athlete performs.  These distractions can also lead to being more injury prone as they aren't focusing on proper technique or tactics. 

While this list is definitely not inclusive these few tips can help you be just a coach who can teach skills and tactics into a coach who truly creates a great environment for their athletes to excel both in sport and life. 

Risk Management the Coach's Responsibility

Many coaches find it difficult to come up with a complete risk management plan for their team.  For some it may be that they don't understand the importance of one or not feel it is their responsibility, for others it is not knowing where to start or what all comprises of a complete plan.  As a coach you are the decision maker for your team, you need to make safety and risk management a priority as it can be the difference between success and failure or life and death. 

Risk management is an ongoing process that must begin prior to the season beginning and does not end until after the season is over. 

So what all does a coach need to do? We will discuss the basics of a risk management program for sport teams. 

Emergency Action Plan (EAP) - the EAP is designed to make sure all the proper steps are taken when an injury occurs and that specific people have a designated roles/jobs so that all are prepared.  Basic EAPs consist of 3 roles, the charge person who is attending to the injured athlete, the call person who contacts EMS and the control person who maintains order among the crowd, opposing team and liaises with the facility.  

Have First Aid and CPR - it is all great that you have an EAP but if you don't have basic injury management skills such as first aid and CPR, what are you going to do if something occurs?  You can not rely on always having a trainer, athletic therapist on your staff or that each year you will have parents who are doctors, nurses or paramedics.  These are added bonuses not sure things.  

Take an Injury Management Seminar - First aid and CPR only get you so far in the world of sports.  You need to understand the types of injuries that will occur in sports and how to apply the knowledge you gained in first aid and CPR to those situations.  A good seminar will not only discuss sports injuries but go in-depth on risk management, injury prevention and return to activity. 

Carry a First Aid Kit - each team should carry an individualized first aid kit for their sport and the knowledge of those who will be using it.  Sports require more than just few pieces of gauze and band-aids but unless you are trained to do so you don't need a stitch kit. 

Do Risk Assessments - at practices and games.  Know what the areas of risk are in your sport and at each facility you are at.  By doing so you can implement prevention strategies and be more prepared for situations that are specific to each activity. 

By no means is this a complete list of everything that comprises a risk management program.  After each practice, game or competition you will tweek your plan based on what occurred.  Rely on past experiences as well to help form your full plan.  Risk management is about creating a safe environment for your athletes, your staff as well as the other team and spectators.  Though when you first start working on your plan it is a lot of work, the benefits pay off throughout the seasons.  When injuries do occur, because you were prepared they will take less energy and focus at that time than if you did not have an effective risk management plan. 

For more information on risk management, EAPs and the coaches role please visit our website at www.eliteinjury.com  and follow us on Twitter @EliteInjuryMgmt 

SCORE - Saving & Creating Better Athletes

Today is the official launch of our SCORE - Saving and Creating Better Athletes - program.   This program has been designed to give all school athletes tools to help them succeed in all areas of their lives.  The goal of the SCORE program is to create athletes who are not only better prepared to participate in sport and excel but also create athletes who are able to reduce the risk of injury and deal with injury and emergency situations if they do occur.

The SCORE program consists of the following. 

First Aid & CPR Certification 

In the case of any emergency having someone present who is able to perform CPR and       administer life saving first aid can be the difference between life and death.  Having these skills is not only applicable to those in sport but is a great life skill.  Student athletes will be certified in CPR, AED and First Aid.

Injury Recognition 

The importance of having first aid and CPR is great, however without the knowledge of how to recognize common sports injuries those skills are not useful.  We offer numerous injury recognition seminars including concussion recognition. musculoskeletal injuries, anaphylactic    reactions, spinal injuries, heat illness and medical episodes such as cardiac arrest, diabetes, and asthma.  

Sport Taping & Strapping

If you want to learn unique and practical taping techniques for most common sports injuries.  Participants learn proper taping procedures, when to tape and when not to, taping versus bracing, as well as have the opportunity to practice different taping techniques for all parts of the body.

Education Seminars 

Seminars will increase athletes awareness of health and safety topics. Participants will gain knowledge on how to perform at peak levels as well as knowledge to use in everyday life.  Topics include nutrition, injury prevention, drugs in sport and mental training skills such as goal setting.

Student Trainer Course

For those students who wish to expand their knowledge of sports medicine or who are wanting to pursue a career in sports medicine this is the place to start.  This course is comprised of three parts: First Aid and CPR certification, Sport Taping and Strapping and our Managing Injuries—A Trainer’s  Responsibility.

 By creating an athlete that not only has the skills to compete on the playing field or gym, but who now has the knowledge as to how injury prevention and management plays a role in athletic success.  The SCORE program truly makes athletes - student athletes as it gives direct education applicable to sport that they can carry over into every day life.

Please follow us on Twitter @EliteInjuryMgmt and check out our website www.eliteinjury.com 

Emergency Action Plan Part 2

As a continuation from last week we will continue with Emergency Action Plans to continue showing the importance of why all teams, clubs and organizations need to have an effective EAP.  I would like to thank Dr. David Geier, Mike Hopper, ATC and Stop Sports Injuries blog for their posts on EAPs as well in the last couple of weeks as some of the basis for this post will come from them.

Last week we discussed the three major roles that are needed to have an effective EAP, these make up the personnel portion based on Dr. Geier's components.  The second component is communication, both with each member of the EAP, parents, other teams and administrators.  We covered communication within the EAP last week so we will discuss communicating with parents and administrators.

Parent communication is so critical prior to competition, once an injury occurs and after an injury occurs.
Prior to the season starting or competitions inform your parents that you have an EAP, they do not need to know the details, just make them aware that if an injury does occur you have a detailed plan.  It is very important to let them know that the plan includes injury care and contacting EMS as it will help avoid multiple calls to dispatch.  During injury care, it becomes the job of the control person or additional members of the team staff to help calm the parents of the athlete.  Inform them of the degree of the injury, that they are being cared for and that EMS is on route.  This would be the same if you are travelling and the parents are not there, you need to contact them as soon as possible to advise them of the situation.  Post injury stay in contact with the parents to ensure that everyone is on the same page as to severity and rehabilitation of the injury.

When acting as the host for events, you should let the other team know of your EAP as there may be differences as to activating EMS and access to the facility compared to their home venue. When visiting ask the other team or facility these questions, you can not always be reliant on them having an EAP and there maybe the same differences as if they were the visiting team.

Whenever a major injury occurs especially in a school based setting, letting the administrators know can be vital.  In school settings the athletic director, principal and at times the school board must be made aware of the situation.  For minor sports, the club or organizing body will need to know the details of the incident.  In both cases it primarily will be about liability and insurance.  Depending on the insurance plan, there can be time frames for starting a claim and retrieving the information needed.  Usually it will involve paper work from the hospital which can take time to receive and insurance companies usually don't budge on their deadlines.

The third component is ensuring you have proper equipment to deal with emergency situations.  That equipment will vary depending on whether you are a coach, parent, or Athletic Therapist.  The most basic things that everyone in sport should have on the sidelines are:

• Up to date medical information on all participants in your care including coaches
• Face mask removal tool - football 
• Rescue shears for removal of equipment
• CPR mask & other Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves
• Wound supplies - gauze and towels to stop flow of blood
• ICE 
• Triangle bandages
• Splints 
• AED - you may not have a portable one but knowing where it is located at the venue is extremely important

An AED can mean the difference between life and death in emergent situations involving the heart.  The rate of survival increases by 75% when and AED is used.  For every minute that an AED is not used the rate of survival drops by 7-10% and by 12 minutes without defibrillation the rate of survival is only 5%.  Having one on site during any sporting event is a major step towards proper injury management.

You never know what each day at the rink, field or gym will bring.  Hopefully everything goes off fine and no injuries occur, but at some point an injury will happen.  Emergent situations can range from a spinal injury, head injury or an open fracture.  You may have a medical situations such as heat stroke, allergic reactions or an athlete with diabetes who is either hypo or hypoglycemic.  Be it in a school setting, a club or team sport having a detailed documented EAP that fully defines the roles and actions of everyone involved is the critical step in ensuring athlete safety.  Having someone on hand as a first responder, be it a coach with first aid and CPR, an Athletic Therapist or an EMT, without the prior planning of what to do in that emergent situation, no matter what their skills are, the athlete's well being and safety has been put in jeopardy.

For more information on EAP's please contact us at info@eliteinjury.com or visit our website at www.eliteinjury.com.

Resources used

Dr. David Geier - Why are Emergency Action Plans Critical for sports teams?
Mike Hopper, ATC - Sports Emergencies
Heart and Stroke Foundation - Public access to AEDs
Stop Sports Injuries - Why all sports teams should have an Emergency Action Plan

Athletic Therapist as Coach Educator

As much as we all would like to live in a perfect world where every team, school, and club carried or hired an Athletic Therapist, we haven't reached that point and unfortunately never will.  After participating in the #sportssafety chat this past week, it came to my attention that no matter how hard we try to have ATs at all levels of sport it seems that there are obstacles that will never be removed.  So what do we do?  We need to work on educating the coaches on injury prevention, recognition and basic management.

When working with a team or not one of the roles an AT takes on is educating coaches on the above topics.  Injury prevention must be something that all participants buy into.  The coaching staff are the ones that run practices, make tactical plans for competitions and are the overall guardian of what goes on with the athletes. Coaches need to learn about topics such as proper warm up, nutrition, hydration, rest and equipment as they can be a major influence if not the key influence as to athlete safety.

When it comes to injury recognition and management, by no means do I think coaches should know the difference between the laxity of a grade 1 sprain vs a grade 2 nor should they learn how to place players on spine boards.  What coaches do need to know though are basic first aid, CPR and have an understanding of basic injuries.  ATs need to share some of their knowledge with coaches.  Coaches do need to understand the difference between sprains and strains and understand the severity of each.  This knowledge will help them become a better coach, as they will understand why their athletes are out of sport while injured.  Everyone involved in sport should have first aid and CPR, so they can deal with emergent situations and have basic splinting skills.  Where ATs come into the education role is to help coaches take that first aid knowledge and apply it to sport.  

We know that at some point in their coaching career a coach will have to deal with an injured athlete, by educating them as to how to prevent injuries, we can help them decrease the number they will see.  By expanding their skill set when it comes to injury recognition and management, they will feel more comfortable when an injury does occur.  Athletic Therapists have a wide knowledge base, and by no means should coaches be expected to have the same one.  What we as ATs need to do is help the coaches expand their knowledge base, take the fear and uncertainty away when it comes to injuries.  Give coaches the ability to handle an injury until the athlete can receive more advanced care and ensure that the injury is not made worse.  If we as ATs work to empower coaches then coaches will learn that we are an integral part of the sporting community.

Please follow us on Twitter @EliteInjuryMgmt and check out our website at www.eliteinjury.com 

Emergency Action Plan

An athlete goes down, they are hurt and not getting back up.  What do you do?

Well no matter if you are an Athletic Therapist/Trainer or coach the most important thing that you have already done is have your Emergency Action Plan (EAP).  The EAP is simply the plan that you as an association, club or team have set out in case an emergent situation may occur.  It is important to remember that not all emergent situations may be an injury.  An athlete may have a medical episode as well as someone in the stands.

It is really simple to think that if an emergency does occur everything will fall into place and there will be no complications.  However during an emergent situation, there is chaos.  No matter the level, no matter the expertise of the medical staff or coaching staff, everything going on is chaos.  If you check back to any of the videos from the post Athletic Therapists/Trainers in Action  even though all the ATs are working in the professional ranks, what goes on around them is chaos.  The biggest thing to notice is that it is organized chaos.  Each person knew their role and that by completing their role, that was what would guarantee the athlete getting the best, quickest care possible.

It is very important to note that if as a coach you are unable to have an Athletic Therapist on staff you still need to have an EAP and may find it more important as you will be taking control and charge of the situation.  You as a coach need to have this written plan that you share with your coaching staff and inform your parent group that you have one.  This will help with efficiency in care and will ease any concerns that your parent group will have in case something were to happen to their child.

So what makes up a good EAP.  There are three major roles.  Charge Person, Call Person, Control Person.  The focus will be on if you do not have an AT on staff and will be managing the emergency as a member of the coaching staff.  Time is of the essence during an emergency, so making sure that everyone knows what to do is very important.

The Charge Person's only concern is the care of the injured athlete.  They are to decide whether or not further care is needed beyond what they are trained to do.  This can include finding someone more qualified in the stands and activating EMS.  It is recommended that this person does possess some level of first aid and CPR training that way they have the knowledge base to know if more care is needed and can do some basic interventions.

The Call Person has at times the most simple job, they need to discuss with the charge person what the extent of the players injury is and if they want EMS contacted.  Never rely on a cell phone during this time as depending on the location service may be intermittent.  The call person should know the location of a land line or pay phone at the venue and have the address for each.  They should also know the best location for the ambulance to come to to ensure adequate access, the closer the ambulance can get to the playing field can at times be critical.

The Control Person can be likened to the bouncer.  They must ensure only the people needed to help with the emergency have access to the athlete.  As much as spectators and parents feel they will be of assistance, the more bodies in the way can impede the care of the injured athlete.

So how does all this start.  Once the charge person enters either the competitive surface, both the call and control person need to be at the ready.  A simple set of easily identifiable signals can get the ball rolling.  You can choose which signals work best for you and your EAP team, but some standard rules should apply.  The signal for activating EMS should be one handed, as your other hand could be stabilizing the head and neck.  All signals should be large ie. arm straight up in the air, hand on the head ect.  That way someone on the sidelines or stands can easily distinguish what is going on.  You can have a signal not only to activate EMS, but to ask for assistance from the sidelines.

Depending on the EAP sample you look at, it can be either the call person or control persons job to talk to the facility staff.  The facility staff are a huge asset during this time.  They know the layout of the venue and will assist in ensuring the ambulance can get to the athlete quickly and uninhibited.  You can also decide who will retrieve the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), it can be the call or control person or you can designate someone who's job is solely to do that.  As soon as the charge person shows the need to activate EMS the AED needs to be retrieved.

Use the officials of the game or event, they can help greatly in dealing with crowd control including the other team.  Once they charge person has decided that EMS needs to be activated they can assist the control person and facility staff in ensuring quick access to the athlete.

Time is of the essence during an emergency, be it your athlete or a spectator or even an athlete from another team, you want to ensure they get the quickest access to advanced medical care.  In rural areas your average time for an ambulance to arrive can be upwards of half an hour, even in the city you may be looking at a wait of ten minutes or more.  The sooner that you as the charge person decide that is what is needed, the sooner that ambulance is on its way.  Never assume that someone else more qualified will be there to make that determination and know that unlike professional sports Paramedics are not waiting in the wings to take over.  A well organized EAP runs smoothly like a well choreographed dance, each person moves independently of each other but all working towards the same goal.  This goal is the safety of the athletes and having an EAP is one of the first steps in ensuring that for them.

Please follow us on Twitter @EliteInjuryMgmt and check out our website at www.eliteinjury.com