First Aid Skills All Coaches Should Know

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As any coach knows, their job is a tough, multi-faceted one. After all, coaches are also teachers, parental figures, friends and at times, paramedics. Sports are also very unpredictable so it’s crucial for coaches to have first aid training so they can take care of their charges to the best of their abilities. Here are several first aid skills that every coach should be familiar with.

• Coaches should know when to call 911. Every good leader knows when to push the advantage, when to hang tough, when to retreat and when to call for reinforcements. Coaches don’t always have the luxury to pull out and check each one of their athletes for every wound or minor injury. But they should know when to let their player back in the game and when to 911.
• Every coach should have taken CPR classes. CPR is the one skill that every coach are required to know and valued above all other skills. Coaches are at the front line and should know how to stop a bleeding or how to make a splint.
• Coaches should know what to do with a neck injury. Most athletes think of their coaches as a pain in their necks and rightly so, for who else would always be on your back and pushing you to become better. But a good coach isn’t only good at breathing down your neck, he or she also knows what to do if you feel a literal pain in the neck.
• Coaches know that a head injury can become a recurring headache for the team. There are instances, and sports, when a hit to head is inevitable. However, this can result in some pretty scary damages. This is why it’s crucial for all coaches to be able to recognize and react to a head injury.
• Sprains can become a real pain when not treated immediately. Every good coach knows how much abuse their athletes’ limbs go through and knows how to ice, wrap and elevate sprained limbs like a licensed professional.
• Coaches know a thing or two about broken bones. A sprain is so different from a fracture or a broken bone and should not be taken lightly.
• Cuts, bruises and wounds are de rigeur for sports and coaches who should know to dress different kinds of wounds.
• Some sports simply require a medical team that are there to help the coach take care of his or her team’s bruised and battered bodies. But while the medical team can deal with stuff like cuts and sprains, it’s the coach’s keen eyes who’ll decide if an athlete is almost running on empty and needs to be rehydrated. A coach who doesn’t notice that an athlete is dehydrated might soon have a bigger problem to deal with – heat stroke. A player suffering from heat stroke can become disoriented or lose consciousness. This is a serious problem that can happen even on

Countless parents and players place their full confidence and belief that the coach knows what’s best and knows how to handle emergencies. As such, most organizations require that their coach and coaching staff have first aid certification.