EMS/Fire at games?

[TD Pass2]

To not get anyone in trouble but still get some answers, I won’t give exact details on the situation.

On Friday night, I attended a high school football game in Eastern NC. During the game, a player was injured. After athletic trainers and other staff assessed the kid, it was deemed that he needed medical attention via EMS. Here’s where it gets interesting…

EMS was not stationed at the game like I’ve ALWAYS seen in the past. Instead, the kid had to lay on the field for 30+ minutes to wait for medical staff to be dispatched and arrive to the school.

My question is, is this normal practice where you usually watch games? I’ve never seen it.

Also, prayers going up to the kid injured. Hope his injuries were not as bad as they seemed and he makes a full recovery.

 

[beamer24]

I've seen where if an ambulance had to take a player the game wouldn't resume until another ambulance got there. Either someone dropped the ball or there was no ems available to stay at game.

 

[Lincolnton]

This past Friday, several players from both Lincolnton and South Point (Belmont, NC area, Gaston County) went down, none having to be transported, and each time Gaston Emergency Medical Services who were stationed at the game, would move a stretcher from the ambulance to the edge of the field, and stand-by there, until it was determined the player did not need to be transported.

It could be that where you were, the EMS didn’t have enough vehicles to put at each game or they could have been so behind on calls.

Here, Lincolnton-Lincoln County, in my opinion, we have a really good EMS that I believe is well run.
A few weeks ago, my neighbor was taken to the hospital in Lincolnton after a knee replacement had failed. While there, it was determined that she would have to be taken to Charlotte for specialized surgery. It was some hours before EMS could transport because of being so far behind on calls, and in this case I’m sure it was a matter of priorities since she was at the hospital and not in immediate danger.

In this county, we’ve had many people move here recently and I’m wondering if before too much longer whether the EMS services we have are going to be able to cover it with what they’ve got. They stay very busy.

 

[Otis4411]

It’s not required. I remember 20-25 years ago the officials would hold a game until the ambulance got there but back then it was all volunteer and no cost to the schools. Most in our squad back then enjoyed getting in free. But today it would cost the school quite a bit to have a paramedic unit out there on overtime. More than they pay the officials and there is no guarantee the ambulance would be able to stay the entire time. My brother is the captain of ours and I just called him to get some info. Vanceboro rescue has close to 1400 calls a year. 3-4 calls per day on average. They haven’t been providing an ambulance for a while but he did tell me the school had sent him a schedule and asked if one could be available. What he will probably do is see if the crew would be willing to stage at the school during games. But if they get called out there wouldn’t be one there. When we (this is coming from me only) went to paid paramedics I believe that is when our volunteers started slowing down. We use to have a very large force of volunteers. It is a problem. You have to have a trainer and first responder at practices also or they can’t dress out. I think that is what I heard at practice recently. Our county spends so much on administrators at the county office in my opinion they need to get rid of some baggage and fund the first responders and a paid ambulance crew for the games. I’m not sure who we should talk too to try and get attention on this.

 

[beamer24]

I know at youth games we paid for an ambulance.