I am taking Taekwondo!

Nurses General Nursing

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Hey everyone! I am going to be volunteering as the medic for my son's taekwondo tournament. Looking for advice or anything I should be mindful of before the tournament. Other than the obvious...like ice packs, what else should I be prepared for? Thanks!

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Specializes in ED, Pedi Vasc access, Paramedic serving 6 towns.

Hi,

I would not do this, as a medic you need to work under a medical control physician and you wont be if you are "volunteering". You will also not be covered for liability!!

I would skip this and tell them they need to have an ambulance company or FD service provide a medic or an EMT. You would be taking on a HUGE amount of liability and will also have no way of legally documenting patient interactions!

Also you are functioning as a "medic", assuming you are licensed at that level you will not have any of the required equipment of a medic like a cardiac monitor, medications, etc, which is also another huge liability.

Annie

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We often had nurse's volunteer at my son's martial arts tournaments. It's not a big deal. It was all first aid. We did have a guy one time completely shatter his knee and femur. You just stabilize and call EMS. Our coach got injured by separating his shoulder at a tournament one time. All they had were collegiate student trainers as this was at a major college campus. They were worthless. I stabilized his shoulder for him until we could get to the ER.

Honestly, if you have a basic knowledge of First Aid and use your assessment skills you'll be fine. It's all about calling 911 for anything major.

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Hi,

I would not do this, as a medic you need to work under a medical control physician and you wont be if you are "volunteering". You will also not be covered for liability!!

I would skip this and tell them they need to have an ambulance company or FD service provide a medic or an EMT. You would be taking on a HUGE amount of liability and will also have no way of legally documenting patient interactions!

Also you are functioning as a "medic", assuming you are licensed at that level you will not have any of the required equipment of a medic like a cardiac monitor, medications, etc, which is also another huge liability

Annie

The vast majority do not provide medics. You hand out ice, kiss boo boos from the little kids, and call medics for the big things.

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Okay medic is the wrong word! Really just basic first aid I believe. Definitely no meds! I was thinking basic stuff like some OJ, ice packs and like 4x4's in case we had a bloody nose.

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Specializes in school nurse.

Brush up on your concussion knowledge. There are some great online modules; the CDC has one. It's geared towards sports coaches, but that fits this scenario pretty well...

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Specializes in ED, Pedi Vasc access, Paramedic serving 6 towns.

In my opinion you are still taking on liability, but that is your choice!

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I understand the OP's desire to be involved in this tournament. But we also live in a litigation-happy society, alas.

OP: if you are licensed, check with your (if you have it) to see if you would be covered should something happen while you are volunteering.

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I understand the OP's desire to be involved in this tournament. But we also live in a litigation-happy society, alas.

OP: if you are licensed, check with your malpractice insurance (if you have it) to see if you would be covered should something happen while you are volunteering.

Can't like this enough. And I don't think the Good Samaritan laws cover you at all in this situation.

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Specializes in ED, Pedi Vasc access, Paramedic serving 6 towns.
Brush up on your concussion knowledge. There are some great online modules; the CDC has one. It's geared towards sports coaches, but that fits this scenario pretty well...

Honestly what will this accomplish? If she tells a parent that their kid has a concussion (which you cannot diagnose without a CT that rules out a bleed) and that parent takes her word for it and does not bring their child to the hospital, that is a ton of liability !

Annie

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Specializes in Critical care, Trauma.

I used to practice traditional TKD and went to several all-day tournaments. All of the ones affiliated with my dojang always used the same medical volunteer He was an old, retired doctor (at least in his 70s). I don't think anything ever really came up but it certainly can, especially if your tournaments have many adolescents or adults competing. Kids are all pretty much just kicking the air and rarely seemed to come within a foot of actually striking each other. lol Even the higher ranking kids tend to look more "cute" than "aggressive".

During preparation for a tournament I had my nose broken. Luckily it was a straight-on shot so it wasn't severely displaced to the side. TKD folks come from all walks of life and I had no medical training at the time, but I quickly figured out that the advice to tilt my head back was not advice to be heeded when I got a mouth full of blood. But really in the 5-6 years of pretty consistent practice I only saw a handful of injuries and they were all pretty overt and easily diagnosed (broken nose, thumb laceration when someone was trying to break boards but accidentally kicked the thumb of someone holding the boards causing a laceration from the board's corner, my fiance fractured his ribs twice without any complication). They also tended to occur in regular class when we weren't wearing pads.

The injuries are usually pretty straight forward ortho-ish kind of things, I can't imagine you'd get too many abdominal or thoracic injuries with all of the bulky pads they make you wear. Shin guards, arm guards, "vest" pads, mouth guard, helmet, and men are supposed to/encouraged to wear cups. If someone gets a decent strike to the head that might be a bit more of a grey area, but punches to the face are not allowed and usually by the time you know how to kick to the height of someone's head you hopefully know how to control it too. (Of course freak accidents happen). Strikes to the back, throat or below the belt are not allowed. Your only targets are the abdomen and flanks (punch or kick), and head (kick).

Ultimately these places should require liability waivers to be signed because everyone is practicing and competing at their own risk. Encourage appropriate treatment and call EMS if there's some freak accident. Brushing up on first aid neuro stuff would be appropriate if it's not your wheelhouse. If you enjoy watching the various activities then you'll have a great time, otherwise it can be pretty boring since they tend to go all day. Have fun!

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bring some athletic tape and research a a couple supportive wraps. Rolled ankles are super common.

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