UI Sports Medicine gives hands-on training for sideline care at sports games

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Big sporting events like Hawkeye football games already have plenty of trained staff prepared to help with any injuries, but U-I sports medicine is more concerned with smaller games and rural locations.

The annual training is aimed to help medically trained professionals prepare for sudden emergencies on the field.

The training demonstrated how to identify injuries in players — and how to use chest compressions and spine boards to respond to those injuries.

For small towns without a medical provider nearby, a quick response from the sideline could be the difference in saving a life.

Unless you’re a paramedic, doing chest compressions and using spine boards outside the hospital are probably out of your comfort zone.

Experts say hands-on can make a world of difference in emergency situations.

“The more you can expose people to these types of experiences, the more they have a neurologic imprint that lets them know how to react when they encounter something like this,” said Tim Thomsen, a program trainer.

On the sideline, cutting through football pads or ripping off helmets might be necessary, things a lot of medical professionals have never done before.

”It’s not like the clinic or ER, you don’t have x-ray right down the hallway, so you do have to make some decisions that are maybe out of your expertise, or your familiarity I should say,” said Kyle Duchman, UI Sports Medicine orthopedic surgeon.

The training demonstrates how to identify injuries in players while responding quickly.

That fast response is especially important for small towns without a medical provider nearby.

“We’re always gonna have coverage at Kinnick stadium, we’re over-resourced in that setting. But it’s really taking care of the small communities,” Duchman said.

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