Cleats at Sports Pitchside Medical Standby?

[IvanD]

I work at my college as medical standby for contact sports.

I have always wondered about this? Can anyone with pitchside experience tell me if it's a good idea to be wearing cleats? I do walk back and forth in the training room once in awhile but spend most of the time by the sidelines.

I was thinking about wearing regular running shoes for dry days but on wet rainy days I was thinking of wearing cleats.

Thoughts/Experience/Comments?

 

[adamjh3]

I just wear my boots year round. Never saw the need to wear anything else.

 

[Akulahawk]

Just wear boots or shoes as the local conditions warrant. I normally wouldn't think that wearing cleats would be necessary... as a medical provider. In the 7 years that I worked on the sidelines, I've never felt the need to wear cleats.

 

[medichopeful]

I work at my college as medical standby for contact sports.

I have always wondered about this? Can anyone with pitchside experience tell me if it's a good idea to be wearing cleats? I do walk back and forth in the training room once in awhile but spend most of the time by the sidelines.

I was thinking about wearing regular running shoes for dry days but on wet rainy days I was thinking of wearing cleats.

Thoughts/Experience/Comments?

No need for cleats! Boots will be fine.

 

[IvanD]

Yeah I guess. The reason I thought of it is that team physios (physical therapists/trainers I suppose) especially for rugby, usually wear cleats since they usually run on field at first sign of trouble.

For rugby at least.

 

[Akulahawk]

If the team athletic trainers are wearing cleats, they probably are expecting some really sloppy conditions on the field. My guess, though, is that's something specific to the culture within their staff. I did that for 7 years, as a student and assistant trainer, and for another 5 or so doing ambulance standby's... never did I once feel the need to wear cleats. I wore either normal shoes or boots as the local conditions or company policy required, but I never did feel like I needed the additional traction that can be gained with cleats, and I rarely (if ever) had to sprint on-field (or pitch, as the case may be) and have to turn or stop on a dime (cleats would allow that).

My take on this is that if you have trainers on hand, let them do their work to initially assess/evaluate the injured person and let them call you out. If you're the only provider there, you need to know when it's permissible to go out onto the field/pitch and not cause a foul of some sort. Generally, you can hurry out there, but to flat out sprint? That just makes everyone more jittery... The time saved is only seconds and you arrive at the athlete's side not out of breath/winded and you're ready to begin assessing/evaluating instead of trying to catch your breath while doing those things too. Having cleats on just reinforces the desire to run/sprint instead of taking the appropriate time to hurry out and begin the process before you get to the athlete's side.

 

[adamjh3]

If the team athletic trainers are wearing cleats, they probably are expecting some really sloppy conditions on the field. My guess, though, is that's something specific to the culture within their staff. I did that for 7 years, as a student and assistant trainer, and for another 5 or so doing ambulance standby's... never did I once feel the need to wear cleats. I wore either normal shoes or boots as the local conditions or company policy required, but I never did feel like I needed the additional traction that can be gained with cleats, and I rarely (if ever) had to sprint on-field (or pitch, as the case may be) and have to turn or stop on a dime (cleats would allow that).

My take on this is that if you have trainers on hand, let them do their work to initially assess/evaluate the injured person and let them call you out. If you're the only provider there, you need to know when it's permissible to go out onto the field/pitch and not cause a foul of some sort. Generally, you can hurry out there, but to flat out sprint? That just makes everyone more jittery... The time saved is only seconds and you arrive at the athlete's side not out of breath/winded and you're ready to begin assessing/evaluating instead of trying to catch your breath while doing those things too. Having cleats on just reinforces the desire to run/sprint instead of taking the appropriate time to hurry out and begin the process before you get to the athlete's side.

Pretty much everything he just said.

I've only been doing event stand by with youth sports for about 6 months and learning what the client wants from you is very important. Some football organisations have it written into their rule book that if we suspect a head injury we can pull any player from the field at any time and no one can argue it. We don't have to assess them if the parents don't want us to (obviously) but we have overall authority when it comes to allowing them on the field or not. That said, we have to go through the white hat to get on the field or big bad scary things happen.

The rugby organisation I currently contract is much more lax, I can pretty much go on the field whenever I want, but I still try to get the ref to call a halt to play if he didn't see the player go down, I don't really want to end up in the middle of a ruck during my assessment :rofl:

Anyway, I'm moving away from the OP. I haven't seen anyone that works at the same company I do wear cleats on the job, it's been boots or tennis shoes if they're wearing shorts. Like Akulahawk said above, don't let the scene control you, you control the scene. Feeling pressured into running to the patient is allowing the scene to control you. I'll sometimes do a light jog out to the field to keep up appearances, (Tonight's headline; Child athlete dies on field while EMT walks nonchalantly to care for him) but I never run.

 

[Tigger]

No need for cleats, running shoes are fine. I wouldn't even wear boots if you don't have to.

I have seen some other ice hockey trainers wear those yak trak things you put on shoes in the winter, but I have never seen the need. Unless the ice was just resurfaced it's really not too hard to walk on.

 

[WuLabsWuTecH]

Boots are for giving you a sturdy foundation, ability to keep traction in sloppy weather conditions. Cleats are more for digging into the ground to give you more traction when you are running. Since you won't be running at any real speed, nor will you need the extra traction to change directions quickly, your standard issue EMS boots will be fine.

 

[PotatoMedic]

Here is a solution...

 

[Akulahawk]

Something else to remember is that as you gain experience watching a particular sport, you'll start seeing things that you didn't before. In my case, I have learned that there's just a different appearance to an athlete that's down as opposed to one that fell down and is OK. I tend to pick up on that very quickly. I've been out on athletes that have had severe limb injuries... and a couple that involved C3-4... in both my roles. Once I see "something" I tend to start gathering my needed equipment really quickly because play is still going. At that point, I'm ready to head out as soon as I'm allowed onto the field.

I never run. I may jog lightly or walk really fast, but I NEVER run. I will miss too many environmental cues if I do. As I walk up, I'm looking at the surface immediately around the athlete. Is the field too slippery? Is there a hole, sprinkler head, or other possible cause of injury? I look at whether the athlete is moving or visibly breathing. I start asking other players or the Ref if they saw what happened... None of these things can happen easily if I run out to the athlete's side. Therefore, I don't feel the need for wearing any footwear other than my regular shoes, boots, or (occasionally) my cold weather boots. For ice events, I'm going to wear those yak trak things on my shoes/boots because I may need the extra traction when/if I have to assist/carry my athlete off the ice.

If I get back to being an athletic trainer, I hope to eventually find a way to legally combine the two fields of Paramedic and athletic trainer... so that I can take from either what is needed at the time for best effect in caring for athletes.

 

[mycrofft]

Cleats are for players on turf. Not for officials or medics who transition from grass to pavement or vehicle. Cleats are to help players run and turn better, not necessary for medical responders. Might make sure your shoes will resist moisture though, turf can be sloppy and wet feet don't make for a good day, or good shoes.