What sits behind the word “Medic”?

This is a follow up to my recent Facebook post...

​Earlier this week, I asked what parents would expect to happen if their child fell from a horse and may have fractured their leg. And all I was doing was really exploring the differences between what parents expect to happen at an event like this and what can actually be provided.
Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion—your comments and answers raised some really important points…

No two patients, injuries or situations are exactly the same, and that is worth acknowledging. Even so, there are some reasonable expectations of a contracted medical team. They should be able to:

• Reach the rider with the right people and equipment.
• Assess the whole patient—not only the obvious leg injury.
• Provide appropriate pain relief.
• Stabilise and support the injury.
• Lift and move the rider safely from where they have fallen.
• Transport them somewhere suitable for further assessment and treatment.
• Monitor their condition and arrange escalation or emergency ambulance transport when required.

That’s really the whole patient journey—and every part of it requires something.

Pain relief requires the right medications and someone authorised and equipped to administer them. In this scenario, we assumed the standard showjumping specification of an EMT and First Responder. That means IV medications would not be available.  

Safe lifting and extrication require enough trained people, appropriate equipment and a suitable vehicle. This is really “bread and butter” for a First Responder-level team, and having trained First Responders with the right resources to move a patient like this to a suitable Medic Base should be expected.
Continued assessment requires a properly equipped Medic Base. It doesn’t need to resemble an operating theatre! But it does need to protect the patient from the environment, provide some privacy and give the Medics a suitable place to continue working.
Escalation requires communication capability, access planning and a team able to continue caring for the patient if further help or transport has been arranged.
If one of those pieces is missing, the response may stop at assessment, reassurance, calling an ambulance and a potentially long wait—or the event may remain stopped because there is no safe way to move the patient.

That’s why simply having “a Medic” onsite doesn’t tell parents or event organisers what can actually be provided. Even providers working to the same personnel specification may deploy very different equipment, medications, vehicles and treatment facilities.

The more useful question is: What can your Medic team actually do on the day?

Our free Event Organiser Resources help organisers answer that question. They provide a practical way to ask prospective medical providers what people, equipment, medications, vehicles and support systems will actually be onsite—and to check that the agreed capability arrives on the day.
You can find them here:
https://www.medicsonscene.org.nz/new-event-organiser-resources.html
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