The day had gone surprisingly well considering all the activity at Central High School. Central was hosting the league track championships on the same day it was playing a baseball doubleheader against the cross-town rivals. Aisha was Central's athletic trainer. She was attempting to cover both events with a staff of two athletic training students. She was hopeful that her team physician would show up at some point, although he wasn't sure that he could make it. Aisha decided to place one athletic training student at the baseball game and the other at the track meet. She would walk back and forth between the two events. Fortunately, the baseball field was directly adjacent to the track, so Aisha was confident she could keep a close eye on both events.

During the boys' 5,000-meter run, several of the girls were warming up for their 3,000-meter race, which would follow immediately. Aisha was concerned about one of the boys, who appeared to be having a problem with his hamstring. He had started the race with an elastic bandage wrapped around his thigh, but he had stopped midway through the race to remove it. Now he was limping noticeably. Finally, Aisha saw him fall to the track in pain and frustration.

Aisha told Todd, the athletic training student covering the track meet, that she would run over and take care of the injured boy. When she got there, however, she was surprised to see that there were two injured athletes. Apparently, as Aisha had been jogging over to attend to the injured boy, a girl who had been warming up for the 3,000-meter race had been hit in the side of the head with a foul ball from the baseball game. It was immediately evident that the girl was injured more seriously than the boy, although he was exhibiting considerable discomfort. Aisha performed a quick examination of the girl's closed-head injury and decided that she would require additional medical evaluation as soon as possible. Because the girl was not fully conscious, Aisha decided to summon an ambulance to make the transfer to the hospital. While Aisha immobilized the girl's cervical spine, she told one of the Central athletes that had gathered around to go find Todd to tell him to call the ambulance. The athlete ran off, but returned several minutes later and informed Aisha that he couldn't find Todd among the hundreds of athletes and spectators present for the meet. Aisha then instructed the athlete to make the call himself. She told him that the telephone was located in the custodian's office just inside the school's back door. Twenty minutes later, the ambulance finally arrived and took the girl to the hospital. One of Central's booster club officers accompanied the girl in the ambulance because her parents had not been able to attend the meet and her coach was the only adult who could stay to supervise the other squad members. After the ambulance left, Aisha turned her attention to the boy with the hamstring problem, but he was nowhere to be found. He had apparently wandered away after it became clear that nobody was going to pay attention to his injury.

When Aisha found the athlete she had sent to make the phone call, she asked why it had taken so long for the ambulance to arrive. He informed her that the custodian's office was locked and that it had taken him about 10 minutes to find someone with a key. After the track meet and the baseball game ended, Aisha went to the hospital to visit the injured girl. The doctor informed her that the girl would be fine and was due to be released shortly.

Three weeks later, Aisha received a phone call from the injured girl's track coach. He wanted to know whether Central High was going to pay the ambulance and hospital bill. His reasoning was that because the accident had happened at Central High School, and because it was a Central staff member who had called the ambulance, and because the girl's parents were uninsured, Central should pay the bills. Aisha was surprised to hear him say that someone on Central's staff had told the girl that Central had insurance for this kind of situation and not to worry about the bills. Aisha told the track coach that she thought his school would be responsible, but that his athletic director should call her athletic director to discuss the matter.

Questions for Analysis

2. How would the presence of a comprehensive emergency plan have helped Aisha handle this situation with greater effectiveness and efficiency?
4. What elements would you include in an emergency plan if you were in Aisha's position?
6. Devise an emergency plan for your school. Be sure to include all the elements you mentioned in your answer to question 2.
8. Is the injured girl's track coach justified in his request that Central High School pay for the ambulance and hospital bills? Why or why not? If not, who do you think should be responsible? What procedures should be followed in order to determine who will pay the bills?
10. Is this the kind of injury that most athletic insurance policies would cover? Check your school's policy to see whether this injury would be covered under the terms of the policy.