Posted on 09/22/2008 8:56:48 AM PDT by buccaneer81
First responders rush onto ice Medical staff for Blue Jackets gets training to handle in-game emergencies in wake of nearly fatal NHL injury Monday, September 22, 2008 3:13 AM By Suzanne Hoholik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Mike Vogt, head athletic trainer of the Columbus Blue Jackets, demonstrates chest compressions in a training session for the medical personnel who staff the hockey team's games. Rich Phillips, who drives the Zamboni machine that smoothes the Nationwide Arena ice, portrays a stricken player. When the fastest game in sports comes to a halt because a hockey player is down on the ice or heads to the bench trailing blood, it's time for the Columbus Blue Jackets medical team to kick into gear.
Athletic trainers and three doctors are at every game, as well as a paramedic crew from the Columbus Division of Fire.
Head team trainer Mike Vogt is the first person to head onto the ice to assess players who need medical attention. He tells the medical staff what he's learned with one of two hand signals: If he points to the bench, he needs a doctor. If he raises a fist, everyone -- assistant trainers, team doctors and medics -- is to respond.
To make sure each person knows his or her role in a medical emergency on game nights, the team held a series of drills recently in Nationwide Arena.
NHL leaders told all hockey clubs this year that they need to put together plans to respond to medical emergencies and serious injuries.
Last year, Florida Panthers winger Richard Zednik suffered a slashed carotid artery when a teammate inadvertently kicked his throat. In 2005, defenseman Jiri Fischer went into cardiac arrest on the Detroit Red Wings bench.
On Friday, Vogt had Zamboni driver Rich Phillips -- dressed in hockey gear -- play a range of injured players, including one who had lost consciousness after hitting the boards and one who complained of neck pain on the bench.
In one scenario, Phillips played a goaltender knocked out in the net.
Vogt went to the goalie and quickly raised his fist.
Doctors shuffled onto the ice in their dress shoes, and medics pushed a gurney toward the goal.
The goalie was breathing, so they strapped him to a backboard with his uniform on. Then they discussed how to get him onto the gurney.
"I think we get the cot down, lift him up and then slide the cot under him," said paramedic Kevin Harr.
It worked, and Vogt told them not to extend the gurney to its full height.
"You should never transport a guy off the ice up on the cot; it's top-heavy," Vogt said. "It should be down because there are ruts in the ice and you could slip."
Vogt added that players should be wheeled off the ice feet first instead of head first. Otherwise, a slip could slam a player's head into the boards.
"And what about those sharp blades on the end of his feet?" Vogt said.
Cover them with plastic guards.
Then they discussed whether to take off the goalie's helmet.
"My vote is, leave the helmet on, barring any type of facial trauma," said Dr. Joseph Ruane, team doctor and a sports-medicine physician.
The group agreed the helmet would remain on until the player had to have X-rays taken at the hospital. If the player had trouble breathing en route, medics would cut the helmet off.
Knowing that the team's medical staff is prepared for an emergency was reassuring to Blue Jackets defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, who walked through the arena.
"When you see what happened to that Zednik, it's nice to know that people will know what to do," he said.
shoholik@dispatch.com
NHL ping!
It's the good ol' hockey game....
GO Bolts!
Two words: Clint Malarchuk. *shudder*
}:-)4
Thanks for the ping!
You know, this is one of those things I just assumed all teams had a system in place for. It never occurred to me that they didn’t.
Thanks for this article from the Columbus Dispatch. Doesn’t Columbus have a team that they could write about as well? I am not sure, however, that professional hockey is played in Columbus.
When Rick Nash scores 50 goals this season, you'll have your answer.
Yup. 1989. That was the worst I had seen before Zednik.
Malarchuk is now the Blue Jackets goalie coach.
Is “Captain Kangaroo” as we affectionately called him when he was coaching the Stars, still their coach?
Rick Nash is a great player, and it would not disappoint me if he did, but I want to see the Jackets in the playoffs. The jury is still out on the current management. Previous management was inept and talk was cheap.
He sure is. A well loved figure here in Columbus. Best thing to ever happen to the franchise (except for Rick Nash.)
BTW, Richard Matvichuk showed up for a try-out this week. We'll see if Hitch still feels he can play at 35.
The very definition of Doug "Do As I Say" MacLean. He was quite a con artist.
I was sad when the Stars fired him, I knew a lot of the players weren’t sad to see him go, but he was a great ambassador for the team, and he really helped to garner interest in the Stars here in Dallas.
Yeah, I hear you. Under him, the team was Mc-Lean.
You must be a Jackets fan, correct?
Yup. I split a pair of season tickets with a friend. My only expensive vice, and my wife goes with me to five or six games a year; I take my son to the rest. Not a bad deal.
I get to a couple of games a year and it is enjoyable. I am hoping the team plays up to expectations this year. I grew up outside Detroit, so the Red Wings are my favorite team, but the Blue Jackets are second. My wife is Canadian, so to keep peace in the family, I also have to root for the Maple Leafs.
I fear that if the Jackets don't make the playoffs this year and the next, Nash may well go the free agent route. And he's never made a secret of the fact that he has idolized the Leafs since childhood.
I agree with you. I would hate to see him leave. He IS a treat to watch!
One of these days I want to make it over to Raleigh for a Hurricanes game. The level of fan support they get around here surprises a lot of people, especially considering they’re going up against college basketball for a lot of the season. I think their spectacular Stanley Cup run a few years ago has given them a lot of goodwill here in the Triangle, and they’re still coasting on it to an extent.
Actually Raleigh/Durham and Columbus are somewhat similar...mostly college sports towns (you football, us basketball), medium-sized markets, with the hockey team being the only major professional league in town. (Well, OK, unless you count the Columbus Crew, if they’re still around.)
}:-)4
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