Macclesfield Cheerleading


First Aid Medical Services at Cheerleading Events
Cheerleading, in its original form, was first established as an all-male American activity in the late 18th century. It’s name originated after University officials issued certain students with the role, and therefore the title, of leading the cheer at football matches. Females were eventually given the opportunity to take part during the Second World War and cheerleaders have since become a widely popular and integral part of many sports including basketball, baseball, ice hockey and American football.

Do you need medical cover?

Cheerleading has evolved greatly over the years, to include choreographed gymnastics, dance, and stunt sequences within a routine. Competitive Cheerleading is also now a sport widely recognised in the UK, with many competitions taking place each year, and children as young as three years old being able to take part. Although great care may be taken by coaches and cheerleading event organisers, there is still a very real risk of injury, purely due to the nature of the sport; Competitors are in danger of sustaining minor sprains, strains and fractured limbs from awkward lands, or possibly more serious injuries such as whiplash, head injuries and broken vertebrae after falling from height.

Whilst some injuries may be minor and easily treatable, others may require urgent assessment in order to stabilise the patient and reduce further complications. In such circumstances, medical intervention at the earliest possible opportunity allows a patient the best possible chance of a full recovery. However, it is well documented that the NHS ambulance service is often working at, or above capacity, and even 999 calls cannot always be answered in a timely manner. For this reason, event safety guides now state that each event should ensure its own medical provision is in place, in order to cause as little disruption to the statutory services as possible, and this is where Medic 1 can step in to assist.

Our service

We are able to offer a bespoke service to cheerleading event organisers, taking away the stress and often time consuming hard work that is involved in organising medical provision at their event. Our experienced team know just the right questions to ask to ensure an accurate initial risk assessment is undertaken, which will then allow our clinical leads to determine the correct level of resources needed. This risk assessment takes a variety of factors into account, including the venue, location in which the event is being held, the age range taking part, the skill level involved, and also the event’s demographic. With our dedicated expert team on hand, we can produce a finalised quote within a very short space of time, and all at no cost to the client.

Planning

Should you, as a client wish to proceed with that quote, we can also assist in the planning of your event by attending SAG meetings if required and by completing a finalised medical risk assessment and medical plan, to ensure your event is resourced accurately and is in line with the latest Health & Safety regulations and Purple Guide recommendations. We fully understand that plans can change; activities are often added as an event progresses and so a re-evaluation of the risk assessment may be required at some point. This is no problem at all; we will work with you in making any amendments needed to ensure that medical cover is, once again, suitable to your needs. This may result in the level of resources being altered, which may also cause an alteration to the original cost, however, this will be discussed fully with you and confirmed at the time.

Post-event

Following on from your event, we are happy to attend any debrief meetings. We also provide you with a detailed medical report, including a comprehensive (anonymised) breakdown of the number of patients treated, the types of illnesses/injuries sustained throughout your event, and also any feedback and recommendations from the team who attended. This has proved to be very useful to organisers when planning similar events in the future.

Our resources

Every member of our highly skilled team are experienced in assessing, treating and monitoring patients on site where appropriate, and also in assessing when a patient requires additional treatment at a hospital. Medic 1 cover a wide variety of events and venues and are fully trained in de-escalation and communicating with intoxicated patients. We have a variety of resources available and, depending on the outcome of your event’s risk assessment, you may be provided with, or request, any of the following:

How can we help? For more information or to request a quote please call us on 0845 00 44 999. Lines are open 09:00 to 17:30 daily.
Alternatively you can contact us at contact@medic1.co.uk or fill in the contact form.

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