Parents Does USAG have an injury protocol?

[LuckyMommy]

Hello,

Sad situation at our gym has led me to ask if there is an injury protocol from USAG or if other gyms have one. It was late Friday night and one little girl took a freak accidental fall on a simple skill where she hit her face on the beam. She had a bloody nose and was dizzy, but ice stopped the nose bleed after about 10 minutes. The coach had one of her parent's phone numbers but couldn't reach them. Thankfully, the coaches kept her laying down, but she was there for at least 20 minutes with the coaches trying to call a parent. Finally the mother was contacted and arrived about 20 minutes later and took her daughter to an after-hours urgent care, and then a different emergency room. The little girl was so dizzy she could barely walk. Turns out she has what seems to be a pretty bad concussion.

Question: at what point should a gym call the ambulance? When should we, as parents, call an ambulance rather than driving our kids to urgent care?

Thank you,
LuckyMommy

 

[2G1B]

I don't know about for USAG; but u asked an ER doc this question once and he said that if you have to really ask yiyself if you should call an ambulance then it is time to call one.

 

[wnl256]

A little over a year ago one of our optional girls missed a release on the high bar and fell on her head. HC called the paramedics, who immobilized her and took her off to the ER. The docs cleared her neck and she was fine. But I was very glad to see that our gym takes no chances with that sort of thing.

However, I have no idea what the gym's protocol is.

 

[2G1B]

oy. I can't type on my phone at all. That should say:

"I don't know about for USAG; but I asked an ER doc this question once and he said that if you have to really ask yourself if you should call an ambulance then it is time to call one."

 

[Natasha]

The official protocol for the gym I used to work at was that all decisions for any major injury (whether or not to call ambulance) were the responsibility of the highest ranking coach present in the building at the time. Since that would never be me, (I was a preschool teacher) I don't know what their specific protocol was.

 

[JMACAZ]

A year and a half ago my then 6 year old daughter let go doing a shoot thru on bars and landed on her arm. I was upstairs watching and looked over when I heard a loud cry that sounded like her. They moved her off the floor quickly and into the owner's office. I walked in took one look at her crooked arm and said "that's broken yes" She answered "yes badly, paramedics are on the way. My DD was silent, just tears streaming down her face when the paramedics arrived. They checked her out and splinted her arm. They gave me the option of taking her to the hospital or having them transport her. I opted for the later. Turns out she snapped both bones in her arm and they had to reset it. I was glad the gym called. They did not know I was there so they did it on their own. I think for a fall especially one where there is a head involved the paramedics should have been called.

 

[raenndrops]

We had a gymnast land on her head/ neck during practice once and had to CONVINCE the dad to let the paramedics transport her. He was going to have one of hte coaches help her put her jeans on and have her WALK to the car and take her to Urgent Care. She was conscious the whole time and had feeling... coach kept her still though. Called Mom - no answer... Dad - answered he be there in 5 min (when asked if he wanted the squad called b4 he arrived, he said no). 20 minutes AFTER he arrived, we had gotten him to agree to the squad... so they were called. Fire Station 1-1/2 blocks away... 12 minutes later, they arrived... 20 minutes after that, she was loaded... 10 minutes after that, she was in the ER being evaluated.

Our gym gives parents the ULTIMATE choice as long as the child is conscious... of course, we also do what is best for the gymnast (even if it means taking time to work on the parent so he / she makes the safer choice).

 

[AmandaLynn]

Coach's discretion. Glaringly obvious broken bones and potential head/neck/spine injuries usually mean paramedics.

Typically, 911 is called first, parents second.

 

[aerialriver]

My thought is when in doubt call them out! I've been on both sides well actually all 3 sides as a coach, an injured gymnast and a paramedic. I know children are not allowed to be transported usually without a parent's consent unless it is a life or death injury. So if Sally rolls her ankle and the coach is nervous and calls and the parents would rather take her they can.

I know gyms a lot of times to not want to call because they are worried about the reaction of the watching parents and other gymnasts. Which is stupid.

Personally although we don't have an official policy in place nor does USAG mandate one. I would say anything head, neck, back or facial bone related. Extreme pain, of if a gymnast loses consciousness is dizzy, nauseous/vomits, see sports, can't hear after a fall. Or if a limb is grossly deformed or bone sticking out.

Most gyms can take care of simple sprains, strains, hyper extensions, scrapes, etc.

 

[profmom]

When DD broke her arm, neither me nor her father was in the gym. Gym called DH, who headed there immediately, but by the time he got there, the ambulance was already en route to pick her up. Definitely the right call as she ended up needing surgery. When DH arrived, she had a couple of coaches sitting and talking with her and shielding her from curious eyes. Likewise, when DS broke his finger, we weren't there. But for this one, the head coach just called me to come get him and take him to urgent care. An ambulance would have been silly in that case, but he did need to be seen. When we got there to pick him up, he'd been sitting over in the corner quietly icing for 10 minutes and was not at all distressed. I don't know what the protocol is, but it seems like they are not shy about calling for emergency services when it seems appropriate. We're also fortunate to have a handful of parents who are MDs, and if one happens to be around, the coaches will sometimes ask her or him to do a quick assessment if there's a question about concussion or the like.

Do your coaches tell you if something happened during practice when you weren't there if the gymnast wasn't seriously enough hurt to trigger a phone call to a parent but it was something where the kid had to sit out for 20 minutes or so? I've seen this happen on the boys' side.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I believe that we sign forms authorizing the coaches to act on our behalf if we are not present, as part of our registration. But here, health services like the hospital are free, so there isn't an issue with money that perhaps there is in the US.

A couple of years ago a little girl in DD's class broke her arm, and it was very obvious, even from second floor viewing area. They covered her with a coat so the other girls wouldn't see, but the screams were the worst. Ambulance was there and took her long before anyone got a hold of the parents.

 

[profmom]

Oh, my, that must have been very distressing to witness, FTT! I hope she recovered OK. The experienced team girls and boys are just so stoic, even when something serious happens.

(As an aside, we saw that at this weekend's meet -- one of DD's teammates crashed badly at the end of her routine. She stood up, turned to the judge, smiled and saluted, and then turned and collapsed into tears clutching her stomach and stumbled off into the coaches' arms. She was fine and had just gotten the wind knocked out of her, but wow . . .)

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

The experienced team girls and boys are just so stoic, even when something serious happens.

They were 7 at the time, so it was preteam, and they weren't so stoic. The older girls in the gym were able to continue on, but that little class had a very hard time finishing out their day. A couple ended up with beam fear issues for most of the season, and wouldn't go on "that" beam. The little girl is, however, just fine and happily competing new L5

 

[profmom]

Good for her! I'm always amazed at how so many of them can come back from something that scary and keep going.

 

[Maitland]

I believe that if the gym is a USAG member club, then they must have at least one coach who has a Safety Certificate and become a professional member through USAG, as well as the owner or director. Any coach who attends a USAG sanctioned meet must also have these. I think it is one of the very good reasons to make sure your kids are enrolled in a USAG member club. As to calling the paramedics...absolutely smart on their part. Paramedics should make the call on questionable injuries.