first-aid cover at shows- is this too much to pay?

I'm curious as to where this figure of £400 keeps coming from?????

If qualified event medics are on site for the event and correctly equipped.... there is absolutely NO reason whatsoever why there should be excessive delays to the event!
Should an accident occur, and they always do... the medics on site should be able to secure and treat that casualty accordingly... with any equestrian event... one of the priority factors is to secure safety of those involved... and with the exception of a death occuring... the normal circ's would permit the casualty being correctly handled and moved from the show ring via the route required. The event then continues as normal...
At this point someone usually asks the question.....
"Yeah but due to location, a serious accident would require the air ambulance!! how can we continue"

The Air Ambulances when called upon, will NOT land at or close to an equestrian incident at a show....due to the unsecured hazards present....ie excessive persons and horses!
The casualty will still have to be moved to a place of safety one way or the other....and having qualified persons on site..facilitates that!!
 
BoltonRider - as you seem to know about these things. I was once told that if you did get to go for a ride in a helicopter to hospital that you had to pay for it, is this true or not?

Thanks
smile.gif
 
I can answer that, my OH is Trustee for Herts Air Amb.

No you don't have to pay.

The Air Amb service is entirely funded by voluntary public donations in this country - you would have to pay if skiing in France though.

Most people who have been picked up by Air Amb then actively fundraise for the same.
 
As a commitee member of a RC £400 was the fee payable to pure FA'ers a couple of years ago for a whole season.
Secondly I beg to differ on the next two points:
1. On many an occasion, & once in particular at Wales & West if the paramedics were required in any one of the 5 rings all others MUST stop proceedings for as long as necessary.
2. When Paramedics are in attendance with an ambulance they are 'normally required to take the patient to the hospital as part of the service. They will not move until the patient is stablised & the journey to hospital can take quite a while. The whole procedure is lengthy. Again, the event can not continue until cover is back in place. Resulting in many riders needing to leave for various reasons & all fees returned to the competitor. On several occasions by the time a class is able to restart the judges also must decide whether the light will be favourable.
At many shows the Air Ambulance has landed. Once in the collecting ring, (right beside the stabling. Another at the side of the stables due to a competitor being kicked in the head whilst studding up. & also in the main arena at what used to be a very large event at Church Farm in Staffs area (if my memory serves me right) So unless things have changed drastically since my last experience 1 year ago, I simply do not agree. At all of these one was an official Nations Cup & the 2 others under FEI rules as they had European Trials. So we are not talking local unaffiliated.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I can answer that, my OH is Trustee for Herts Air Amb.

No you don't have to pay.

The Air Amb service is entirely funded by voluntary public donations in this country - you would have to pay if skiing in France though.

Most people who have been picked up by Air Amb then actively fundraise for the same.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you
smile.gif
 
I'll try and do this in steps then....

Firstly..regardless of show status...
If a supplier provides your show with medical cover one of two things should be happening...
either you should have enough cover on site that if one crew is required to leave, there would still be cover remaining on site, permitting events to continue.
OR... the cover provided should be "on site", meaning the crews would provide medical assistance, and deal with occurences as they happen... however should the situation require, the crews would summon nhs assistance to transport the patient onward to hospital/place of care.
Your event should never be left without cover due to a transport situation!!!

On the other point.. storage space on here would not permit me to download the guidleines for the AA attending a scene... suffice to say, unless every horse was caught, moved a considerable distance to safety, and beyond a fence, all loose equipment including marker tapes was removed and secured to prevent uplift into the HC exhaust system, the AA would not land within guidelines laid down by the CAA. The risk to all is simply to great.... therefore HSE guidelines advise the patient be moved to the HC unless absolutely critical.

There is not definitve rules that require all activity MUST stop in the event of an accident (save for death)... this it totally dependent upon the experience and confidence of crews involved.. using fully trained and experienced persons... the crew would be experienced in dealing with situations in all environments... they dont expect to work in silence nor in completely secured and still atmosphere's.

I note above there is a trustee from one of the AA charities, I'm sure they will have an input upon the safe working of the AA crews?
Regards payment for AA transport...as stated there is never a charge made... however being in this sport...we should all be supporting the AA charities and the Mountian Rescue Services... even if we never use them... they're still there like guardian angels, waiting and watching!
 
I have never known an on sit e paramedic leave site. In our experience they stabilise the patient and move them to a point where pick up by Regional Trust Ambulance (or Air Ambulance) is possible. Air ambulance will need to be about 500 metres from horses (no more) and there is a huge amount of downdraft - so away from tentage etc.

With regard to stopping shows, once a casualty is stable, then ambulance can deal with other people, even if first victim has not been carted to hospital. Not every incident is life threatening, and if the injury is the feared spinal injury, once the patient is on a spinal board they are "safe"; but the reality is it is a broken limb that is much more likely to occur than a life threatening crush injury, and once immobile & out the ring, there is no reason for a show not to continue. It IS possible to be too careful, and level of first aid cover compared to risk is one such area.

Quite simply there are not enough state registered paramedics for every horse show to have one on site
 
I have been at a number of events this year where the air ambulance has unfortunately had to attend. None of the events stopped running. Everything that was away from the landing site carried on.

My daughter went up the centre line in one dressage test whilst the Air Amb landed in the distance behind her, needless to say the horse lacked concentration.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Seems to me Penny that the problem is not the charge, but the answer the OP was provided with when they queried the provisions being made? Maybe it would be worth making a poster outlining what provisions have been made for that show and putting it in the secretary's office?

Well done for setting the record straight so calmly - not everyone manages that!
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I agree completely - Penny has certainly answered in a clear & dignified way...but also agree with Spotted Cat in respect that the OP did actually try and ask what the £3.00 covered but was not given the correct answer at the time and possibly not by the correct member of staff?!? so Spotted Cats idea is a very good one to save any mix ups in future - Well thought of!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top