Medical Standards at club games.

[An Gaeilgoir]

I was talking to a lad who plays football for my local club last night.He was telling me about how he broke his Shin in a Mayo intermediate game the Saturday before christmas. The incident was accidental and as he put it himself the conditions were such" that a milk bottle shouldnt be left out,never mind two teams of footballers". Following this lads breaking his shin,he had to lie on the pitch for FORTY MINUTES before a doctor or ambulance arrived. The game was into the second half when this occured.i have heard since the reason no doctor was at the game was the host club had to 100 euros for his attendance,and they decided to chance it.  We have had a really successful season at intermediate level this year,so a back log of league games has developed...Since the begining of December the club has to deal with 2 disclotated shoulders,one serious and this leg break. We are a rural club and have a small pick of players and for us to lose 3 good players like this is a blow before the new year begins.It seems the more successful a club is the more it has to play catch-up with league games ect.regardless of the conditions or the safety of players.I love the G.A.A and most of what it stands for but its no wonder lods go and play rugby ect. when they see GAA players treated like this.

[thewobbler]

Let's get this straight - you think doctors should be in attendance at intermediate club league games?

I would regard this as:
a) a waste of the club's money
b) a waste of medical practitioner's valuable time

Realistically (and thankfully) the number of incidents in Gaelic Games that require immediate medical attention are few and far between. Realistically as well though, incidents like this most of the time don't require a doctor - they require an ambulance to take the injured party to hospital.

[An Gaeilgoir]

So in the middle of december,a guy breaks his leg and its acceptable to let him lie in the middle of a park for 40 minutes covered in jackets without any medical intervention for the sake of 100 euros,maybe not a doctor but from a standard health and safety point of view,a qualified first aider? At rugby games there is always a good level of medical cover...its attitudes like this stop a lot of young lads parents getting into GAA clubs...race horses are treated better! How long did it take hurling helmets to become mandatory at underage,becuase of the im hard and i can look after myself attitude of GAA folk. its time for the GAA clubs and county boards to look after their players better.That is all.

[Farrandeelin]

I saw a bit about that in the WP over Christmas. In my opinion it was stupid to have the game that day in the first place so close to Christmas. They should have left the game till the new year. As for the qualified first aider at the scene, that would sound reasonable I suppose. The trouble is with ambulances is that there COULD be a need for them in every ground but as wobbler points out these incidents don't happen every weekend thank God.

[thewobbler]

It's a fact of life An Gaeilgoir that if you play a contact sport, there is a fair chance you are going to get injured.

Your point is mute. Even had there been a team of surgeons on the sideline, that same fella would still have had to wait 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive before he could have been moved.


By the way, I've been involved in my club's committee for a number of years now and I've yet to hear of a parent stopping their children playing the game because of poor medical precautions. Yet I've heard more than a few complain about the fact that we charge £1 a week for the kids, even though some of them spend up to 8 hours a week effectively in our care.

The question back to you is, where do you draw the line? If an intermediate team deserves a doctor on the sideline for every game, surely do their reserves, minors, u-16s, u-14s, u-12s, u-10s and u-8s not deserve the same? We'd be fast on our way to becoming an elite sport for the rich if that's your answer.

[superblues]

i agree with the wobbler

[neilthemac]

Yet I've heard more than a few complain about the fact that we charge £1 a week for the kids, even though some of them spend up to 8 hours a week effectively in our care.

any parent who drops off a child and doesn't help out should be charged - only fair on those who do give a hand

As for the injury - shouldn't you complain to the HSE that it took 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive? That is the real DISGRACE here

[LaurelEye]

its time for the GAA clubs and county boards to look after their players better.

Correct and that starts at club level.  Why does your club not insist that some of the mentors at a game have at least basic first aid training?   If you are aware of such bad luck with injuries at your club then take the first step and get trained yourself, it's your club?

I know in our own club last year we organised a rota of volunteers (the majority of them qualified nurses, but with one or two people who had taken first aid courses as well) and managed to cover every match. The main work involved was in ensuring that the load was spread among all the volunteers - there were arrivals and departures from the set of volunteers due to personal circumstances, but overall things worked out pretty well. The other job involved was making sure the medical kitbag was kept stocked.

[stephenite]

I know a lad who broke his leg playing a junior game in Mayo last season, had to drive himself to hospital

[playwiththewind1st]

I well remember having my shoulder dislocated in a match & having to drive myself to hospital - that was a load of fun.

Medical standards @ club games - non-existent in my experience.

[supersarsfields]

_{I well remember having my shoulder dislocated in a match & having to drive myself to hospital - that was a load of fun.}


Well i've dislocated my shoulder a few times myself and if my club couldn't spare someone to drive me to casualty after the accident then i'd be having serious issues with the club. It doesn't require a trained doctor to drive you to casualty. I agree there should be someone there with at least basic first aid training in order to deal with any immediate action. However like Wobbler said, a doctor would be able to do little more than a first aider anyway without having the person in care and having access to all the proper equipment.
Playwiththewind if i was you i'd be asking some serious questions of people within your club who felt it was ok to allow you to drive with a dislocated shoulder.

[playwiththewind1st]

In the dim & distant past now.

The match report mysteriously disappeared as well once legal proceedings were instigated !!