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Your primary role in providing safety is to follow the standard of care with regard to performer readiness - proper conditioning, stretching, environment and the use of skill progressions to minimize the chance of an injury. However, accidents can occur and an emergency situation will require that you take the appropriate action as quickly as possible to minimize the effects of a trauma or even save a life.
How ready is your squad for an emergency? If you can't answer the questions below, you need an Emergency Plan!
1. Do we have an emergency plan?
2. What information do we need to include on our emergency cards?
3. Do we have access to a phone during practice?
4. Who will contact 911 ?
5. Who will meet the Ambulance?
6. Are you or is someone with the program trained in basic first aid and CPR?
It is essential that your emergency plan be tailored to fit your specific situation. You may want to write variations of your plan for practice, home games, and away games.
Be Prepared
1. Create Information Cards for every squad member. Include the following items:
* Full Name
* Squad member's home and school address
* Telephone numbers for the individual's parents and two emergency numbers
* Allergies
* Previous injuries
* Family doctor's name
* Copy of insurance card and/or school insurance number
* HMO requirements/restrictions
2. During practice, you must have access to a telephone. Create an Emergency Phone List specific to your situation and keep by your phone during all activities:
* Create a sheet for each situation (practice, game, away game, etc.) and fill in the appropriate emergency numbers and addresses. It may seem like a lot of trouble to go through, but it will be well worth it in the event of an emergency. Be sure to keep one copy of the emergency phone list in the squad notebook.
* *An example of the sample dialogue would be: “We are located at Jefferson High School at 1800 Thomas Jefferson Boulevard. One of our cheerleaders has fallen and injured her ankle and needs an ambulance. Please come to the Main Gym on the corner of Jefferson and Lincoln behind the parking lot. We will have someone there to meet you.”
The Plan
Assignments
1. During the emergency, the coach will stay with the injured person.
2. Have a reliable person call 911 -- Give your exact location and the basic information on the injury (head injury, broken leg, etc.) and tell the ambulance service where to enter (south end of the field by the big gym).
3. Send someone to meet the ambulance and direct it to the correct location.
4. If you go with the injured person, cancel all other activities (your squad must be supervised).
For away games, meet with the other team's cheerleading advisor/coach to confirm the location of the medical staff and telephone. Any away game emergency plan should also include a passenger list. Make a list of each vehicle's driver and passengers (check you school's travel policy on eligible drivers!). Keep one copy in each vehicle and one copy with someone at the school in case of emergency. As with the home emergency plan, check all procedures with your athletic trainer, coach, principal, and campus security.
Give copies of all plans(s) to your supervisor, to the campus police, to the athletic trainer, and to all squad members.
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