3 First Aid Must-Knows for Youth Sports Coaches

Coaches are responsible for the safety and well being of their players. You might be asked (and expected) to handle anything from nose bleeds to jammed fingers and sprained ankles to even more serious conditions like heat exhaustion or severe dehydration. While you may take every precaution possible to protect your players from harm, accidents are bound to happen, especially in full-contact sports like hockey and football. A good youth sports coach has to know the basics of first aid to help their players and when it’s time to call for professional medical attention.

Here are 3 first aid basics every new coach should know:

How to stop a nosebleed:

If one of your players gets a nosebleed it’s important that you don’t panic! The coach’s job is to stay calm and collected under pressure; it helps keeps your other players and parents from panicking. When dealing with a nosebleed, the player player should sit upright (never lean back!) and pinch the soft spot of their nose (below the bridge) for a full five minutes to stop the bleeding. It’s important they keep pressure for the full 5-10 minutes before checking to see if the bleeding has stopped so the blood has time to clot. An ice pack can constrict the blood vessels in the nose and help stop the bleeding as well. If the bleeding hasn’t stopped after five minutes, have your player re-pinch their nose for another ten. If the bleeding hasn’t stopped after the 2nd or 3rd try, or your player is starting to feel dizzy or weak, call 911 immediately. Dealing with blood is no joke, so be sure to wear gloves (watch out for late allergies) to protect yourself and the rest of your team.

How to treat a sprained ankle:

Sprained/rolled ankles are a fact of life in sports. The first thing you want to do is get the player off of their feet, elevate their ankle and get ice on it as soon as possible to minimize the swelling. Don’t ice it for much longer than 10-15 minutes or you may risk tissue damage from the cold. Once you’re done icing, wrap the athlete’s ankle with a compressive sports bandage to provide support and help minimize the swelling.

How to treat dehydration:

There are plenty of horror stories about coaches withholding water breaks from their athletes as punishment or incentive and the devastating effects of dehydration. Keeping your athletes properly hydrated should be a number one priority for youth coaches and sports parents! But coaches can’t make their players drink enough water, even if they are providing adequate water breaks. It’s easy to get dehydrated in the summer since athletes are sweating so much to

keep cool, but dehydration is still an issue for winter and indoor sports as well. If you suspect a player is suffering from dehydration it’s important that you get fluids into them immediately. Steer clear of sugary drinks like soda or juice boxes and give your players plenty of water or replacement fluids that contain electrolytes.

About the Author

SportsSignup (http://www.sportssignup.com) is an easy-to-use online sports registration system that allows administrators to fully automate sports management tasks including: tracking finances, creating and managing teams, organizing tournaments and much more. In addition to our sports registration software, SportsSigup offers fully integrated Web Store and Coach/Volunteer Background Checks. Our mission is to take the hassle out of operating sports organizations.