An Information Resource for Doctors Providing Medical Care at Sporting Events
The British Medical Association (BMA) Science and Education Department has updated its document An information resource for doctors providing medical care at sporting events. The document was completed with input from Fellows and Members of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (FSEM) UK, amongst other professional contributors.
The updated guidelines cover different levels of medical support at sporting events; from a sports medicine doctor who provides a regular, highly-experienced, level of care to a professional sports club, to a doctor providing unpaid assistance at a local community event on an ad hoc basis. The resource outlines the many roles that a doctor can have at a sporting event and highlights the key steps a doctor should take. This includes a 13 point guide for ‘best practice for a doctor providing medical care at a sporting event’. The document also includes information for Doctors volunteering at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The FSEM’s Hon. Secretary, Dr Simon Kemp, in his capacity as the Chief Medical Officer for Rugby Football Union, provides a case study outlining the value of the RFU Immediate Care in Sport Programme.
The resource contains contact details of the wide range of courses endorsed by the Faculty of Pre Hospital Care.
Dr Kemp comments:“The programme has given me the knowledge and a decision making structure to enable me to feel confident in managing the sporting immediate care scenarios that, unlike emergency medicine practitioners, I don’t encounter every day as part of my working week. I have become increasingly confident in managing head injuries, potential c-spine injuries, airway problems, chest and abdominal trauma and the peripheral limb fractures and dislocations that can all occur on the rugby field.”
