document and must be evaluated at least once per year ...
“The EAP is a living, breathing ”
Debrief The EAP To Learn The health and well being of the student-athlete was not compromised and he returned to play before the end of the season. Everyone involved was satisfi ed with the handling of the situation but the experience prompted me to take our EAP one step further. We added a de- briefi ng of all parties to evaluate the effectiveness of the EAP.
Most high school EAPs are based on hypothetical situations common to athletics and responses are ex- pected to be neat and perfect. While this is logical, it is imperative to fi ne tune your EAP after a serious situation occurs based on the specifi c circumstances of the event.
After our situation, I met with our athletic trainers, coaches, skills trainers and administration to review what happened. My sole question to initiate the discus- sion was simple: “What could we have done better?” This prompted a great deal of dialogue.
The following are the main concerns expressed and the answers/resolutions developed to improve our level of care: • Traffi c on campus was bad. Due to the multiple events held on campus that day, traffi c would have been dif- fi cult to control under any circumstances. Unfortu- nately, there is no getting around this issue based on limited space.
• Cars were parked in emergency lanes. When mul- tiple events are occurring on campus, we now plan with the school service clubs to provide parking con- trol. We also place cones in emergency lanes before all school events.
• The emergency gate to the fi eld was too narrow for the EMS vehicle to pass through. We placed a work order to get the gate widened and cited health and safety issues to expedite the process.
• We didn’t have the resources to work with a hearing- impaired athlete in an emergency situation. We sub- sequently met with the student’s respective school to ensure that a skilled trainer always is available. For our school’s part, we plan to provide basic sign language lesson resources for our athletic trainers.
• Emergency forms were in the offi ce and not on the fi eld. We have mandated that emergency forms be present with the coach on the fi eld or court. There never should be a delay in providing emergency
42 March/April 2013
Having an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) prepares your staff during critical situations on and off the fi eld.
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forms to those who need them in that situation. Other smaller issues were discussed and addressed, then the EAP was updated and redistributed.
The EAP Is A Living Document More schools seem on board with having an EAP in place but if you don’t re-evaluate and update it, then it loses its relevance. The EAP is a living, breathing document and must be evaluated at least once each year. Based on our experience, we evaluate it after ev- ery emergency occurrence. The day after an emergency, conduct a debriefi ng while the experience is fresh in everyone’s minds. Once your EAP goes through an actual emergency, you learn it needs to be adjusted to meet real scenarios and not just hypothetical ones.
Lightning Strikes Twice Oddly enough, the exact situation occurred on cam-
pus the next year. Thanks to the previous year’s debrief- ing, we handled the emergency much better. Despite the identical circumstances, we held a meeting with all par- ties the following day. We had to ensure our EAP was relevant in this situation.
Many athletic directors and coaches may never experi- ence the perfect storm of events we did but it’s critical to have an EAP in place just in case lightning strikes. Review the EAP after each emergency. Update it regularly and protect your athletes, coaches and administrators.
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