Sport First Aid-5th Edition

Description

This is a coaches guide to the care and prevention of injuries. The coach is likely be first on the scene when an athlete falls ill or suffers an injury and must be prepared to take action in a medical emergency. Organised for quick reference, Sport First Aid covers procedures for taking emergency action and if necessary providing life support; performing on the spot assessments; administering first aid for bleeding, tissue damage and unstable injuries; moving an injured athlete; and returning athletes to play. Far better than simply treating injuries and illnesses is to prevent them from occurring in the first place and this reference includes strategies for reducing an athlete's risk of injury or illness. These might typically include the establishment of a medical team, the implementation of pre-season conditioning programmes, creating safe playing environments, planning for weather emergencies, enforcing sport skills and safety rules and developing a medical emergency plan.

Melinda J. Flegel has 27 years of experience as a certified athletic trainer. For 13 years, she was head athletic trainer at the University of Illinois SportWell Center, where she oversaw sports medicine care and injury prevention education for the university's recreational and club sport athletes. As coordinator of outreach services at the Great Plains Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center in Peoria, Illinois, Flegel provided athletic training services to athletes at more than 15 high schools and regularly consulted with their coaches about sport first aid. As the center's educational program coordinator and an American Red Cross CPR instructor, Flegel gained valuable firsthand experience in helping coaches become proficient first responders. Flegel has taught a sports injury course at the University of Illinois. She holds master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Illinois, is a member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association and the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist since 1987. In addition to writing Sport First Aid, Flegel has written several book chapters, including Injury Prevention and First Aid for the Health on Demand textbook.