MEDICAL PROTOCOL

Safety is our number one priority which is why we conduct a risk assessment on all venues we use; buy pads and helmets from the top well-known brands and regularly test our skateboards to ensure they are working to a high enough standard.

HEALTH AND SAFETY PROCEEDURES

RAMPS
We do not let any child skate down a ramp unless we assess them first. For all children trying out a new ramp will follow our protocol of having a qualified instructor assist them down until they are confident the child is can do it on their own. When they have the correct position and the right frame of mind we encourage the child to try it by themselves but have the instructor very close by in case they need to aid the child.

SKATEBOARDS
Inevitably in a skate park with many children skateboarding, skateboards frequently can become out of control. We teach the children our policy of shouting BOARD to alert all them a skateboard is wheeling on its own.

SPACE
During our Afterschool Club we look at how best to divide the space amongst the children and work to a rotation system to ensure we do not overcrowd any space.

On our Holiday Clubs, Royal Oak Skate Park although relatively large have different areas for each level. By dividing children into groups according to that level we utilise the space effectively so that we can teach without being a danger to the other group. Children can move groups if we feel they command the skills to try the next steps.

ILLNESS
If a child develops an illness during the day that we feel is detrimental to their ability to skateboard, or the illness is contagious, we will remove them from the group and phone the carer to pick them up.

MEDICAL PROTOCOL

We have at least two qualified First Aiders in our team and will always have a minimum of one on the Afterschool / Weekend Clubs (depending on the number of children on the course). All first aiders have an up-to-date certificate which is recognised by governing bodies in the industry. We carry a certified up-to-date first aid kit which is fully stocked.

WE USE OUR REGISTRATION FORM (ONLINE AND DOCUMENT) TO FIND OUT IF ANY OF THE CHILDREN ATTENDING HAVE ANY MEDICAL CONDITIONS.

All children’s medical information which is detailed on our registration form is noted before the day of the skateboarding club. On the day all instructors are made aware of which children have what medical condition.

IT IS VITAL THAT CHILDREN WHO HAVE A MEDICAL CONIDITION / ILLNESS ARE MADE AWARE TO US.

Below is the medical protocol we follow for incidents that could occur on the skateboarding club:-

NOSEBLEEDS

• 1. We will take the child out of danger (the skate area) and sit them down
• 2. We lean them forward and use a fabricated material to catch the blood / tidy the area
• 3. We will advise the child to breathe through their mouth whilst we pinch the soft part of the nose to apply pressure for 10 minutes
• 4. We check to see if the bleeding has stopped. If not we repeat no.3
• 5. If the bleeding continues after 30 minutes we will phone 999 and take them to hospital. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.
• 6. We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

BLEEDING

• 1. We will take the child out of danger (the skate area) and sit / lie them down
• 2. We will examine the wound including looking for any foreign objects that might pose a danger to the wound.

SURFACE WOUND
If the wound is a surface wound we will use sterile water from our up-to-date first aid kit to clean the area and apply a dressing to keep the wound clean. THE DRESSING WE APPLY IS A TEMPORARY SOLUTION AND RECOMMEND THAT PARENTS RE-STERILISE AND RE-DRESS THE WOUND WHEN THEY GET HOME.

We will keep the child warm and the area of injury elevated. We will check how the child is feeling and if we feel the injury is a risk to them or those around them we will call the parents / carer to pick them up.
We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

DEEP WOUND / EMBEDDED OBJECT
If the wound is deep or there is an embedded object which has caused the injury we will lie the child down with their feet / legs elevated (WE WILL NOT REMOVE THE EMBEDDED OBJECT)
We will apply pressure to the wound (around the sides if it is an embedded object).

We will call 999 and take the child to hospital. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.

We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

AMPUTATION
If part of the child’s body has been amputated we apply steriled water from our up-to-date first aid kit to clean the area of injury and apply pressure to the wound. We will dress and bandage it up.

We will lie the child down with their feet / legs elevated and keep them warm.

We will search for the part of the body that has been amputated and if found put it in a plastic bag, wrap it in a fabricated material then apply an icepack around it.

We will phone 999 and take them to hospital. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.

We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

EYE INJURY
It is very common for skate parks to have particles of dirt and dust floating around hence why we are particularly equipped to deal with eye injuries.

• 1. We will take the child out of danger (the skate area) and sit them down
• 2. We will use droplets of water to see if we can wash away the particles. We will repeat for 5 times
• 3. If the particles still remain in the eye after giving the eye a good rinse out, we will use a soft sterile dressing from our medical bag and hold it over the eye. We will bandage if necessary. We will also patch up the good eye and lie the child down with their legs elevated. We will keep the child warm.If after 30 minutes the particles are still in the eye we will call 999 and take the child to hospital.
• 4. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.
• 5. We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

BROKEN TOOTH / KNOCKED OUT TOOTH

• 1. We will take the child out of danger (the skate area) and sit them down and use sterile water from our up-to-date first aid kit to clean the area of impact and apply pressure to it
• 2. We will check to see if the child is displaying any signs of concussions by inspecting their pupils in the eyes and find out if the child is experiencing any headache
• 3. We will stop our skateboarding group from skateboarding so we can inspect the skate area for the tooth / part of the tooth
• 4. If we have found the part of the tooth / tooth we place it in a plastic bag and use saliva to keep the tooth nerves alive
• 5. We will call 999 and take the child to hospital (they may recommend going to the dentist).
• 6. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.
• 7. We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

BRUISES AND BROKEN BONES
Whilst we do everything we can to avoid children falling down, skateboarding unfortunately comes with risks.

• 1. When a child falls and is in pain we will take the child out of danger (the skate area) and sit them down
• 2. We will examine them (firstly for concussion) and then the injury, asking the child to wiggle their fingers / toes; wrist / ankle and so on until we reach the area of injury.

BRUISES
A fall to the ground can cause a very nasty and very painful bruise which many children are scared about and automatically believe they have broken something. Due to the different types of breakage of bone we will treat the child as if they have broken / fractured something until we can identify that it is a bruise.

A fall is quite a shock to body and many children have trouble breathing or display other panic symptoms. The first thing we do is calm the child down so they are breathing normally and not in a panic state.

We will inspect the injury looking for clues such as deformities / irregularities to confirm a breakage. Then we then see how much movement the child has.

We will apply and ice pack from our up-to-date first aid kit and apply this to the injury in order reduce the swelling. We will ensure the child is sitting / lying comfortably.

Bruises usually take around an hour to display and whilst they are incredibly painful, the pain does start to lessen. It is around this time we can identify if it is a bruise as oppose to a breakage.

Depending on the severity of the fall, we do try to encourage the child to get back on the skateboard (with us assisting them for as long as they need), as injuries like this can put a child off for good. We do not pressure them and if they don’t want to go we are very happy to call parents / carers to come pick their child up.

We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

FRACTURES/BROKEN BONES
There are many different types of fractures but they can only be confirmed by an Xray.
If we believe the child has broken / fractured themselves, we will sterilise the area and use an icepack to reduce swelling. We will sit / lie the child down in a comfortable position and keep them warm.
We will call 999 and take the child to hospital. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.
We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

DIABETES / ANAPHYLAXIS / ASTHMA
If your child has any allergy it is really important that we know and they carry the correct medication where possible.

• 1. We will take the child out of danger (the skate area) and sit them down / lie them down (or for Asthma we will sit them upright and help them lean on something.
• 2. We will check to see how severe their breathing problems are (if severe will may need to resuscitate).
  We will find their medicine (inhaler or Epipen) and give it to them, ensuring they get a full dose (make sure the epi-pen is inserted into the skin and not caught by the child’s clothing). If there is no improvement or the symptoms return we will repeat their medicine and call 999 and take the child to hospital. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.
• 3. We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

CHOKING
Part of being first-aid trained is to be aware of what actions to take under particular scenarios. Choking is a very common thing amongst children and first aiders have to react quickly to ensure the child doesn’t lose oxygen (particularly to the brain).

• 1. We encourage the child to cough to see if they can dislodge the object causing the choking.
• 2. If this doesn’t work we will give up to 5 firm blows on the back to see if we can move the object
• 3. If the obstruction is still not cleared we will give the child up to 5 abdominal thrusts.
• 4. If we have not been successful in dislodging the object we will repeat steps 2 and 3
• 5. If the treatment seems ineffective we will call 999.
  If the child loses consciousness we will place the child on a firm flat surface and if need be start CPR. We will continue trying to dislodge the object and keep giving the child oxygen until the ambulance arrives. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.
• 6. We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.
  If we are able to remove the object we will stay with the child as they will likely be shocked by the incidence. We will decide whether the child will need to go home or not.

CONCUSSION
A knock to the head can be very severe and no matter how hard the child hurt themselves we take this very seriously. Concussion can take up to 24 hours to display symptoms.

• 1. We will take the child out of danger (the skate area) and sit them down
• 2. We will examine the child’s behaviour, their co-ordination, how they talk, their eyes / sensitivity to light and lastly if there is head pain and where.
• 3. If the child claims they are fine and would like to continue, we let them do so but keep a very close watch on them to see how they are appearing. We would let the parents / carers know and ask that they keep an eye on their children over the next 24 hours.
  If we believe a child has concussion we will try to keep them focused on us (to keep them awake) and then we will phone 999 and take the child to hospital. We will call parents / carers to advise them of the incident and advise them which hospital / walk in centre they have been taken to.
• 4. We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.

UNCONSIOUSNESS

• 1. We section off the area around the child, so they are out of danger
• 2. We try to wake the child using voice and pinching of the ears to see if it is a mild concussion.
• 3. We check for breathing
  BREATHING: If the child is breathing, we move them into RECOVERY POSITON and call 999
  NOT BREATHING: We will check the airways to see if there is a blockage which is stopping the child from breathing. If not we will perform CPR and phone 999
• 4. We will phone the parents as soon as the child is out of danger advising them which hospital their child has been taken to.
• 5. We will fill out an Accident Report form detailing the nature of the incident and what actions we took.