Bleeding Control Kits for Hockey/Ringette Teams

The Cause

Any time there is an injury involving a skate blade, there is a sense of panic. Although rare, the result of a neck, arm or leg laceration in ice hockey/ringette can be catastrophic. Most minor teams do not have team doctors, and so trainers have to manage bleeding themselves if a skate cut injury occurs during a game or practice until EMS arrives.
What is proposed is providing hemorrhage control kits to minor league teams across Northern Alberta. These kits have been designed to manage severe bleeding in a field setting to temporize the situation until EMS arrives and can transport the injured player to a higher level of care.

Who Will it Benefit?

Most parents and volunteers will do what is best for their child, and will put their children in a situation that is safer. Since accidents do happen, to participants of all ages, this better prepares the volunteers and staff for any laceration emergency that comes their way. Skate lacerations occur while players are stepped on, are airborne, sitting/kneeling or lying on the ice. By example, Clink Malarchuk is best known for having survived a life-threatening injury when a players skate blade sliced his carotid artery and jugular vein. If not for the quick actions of a surgeon on the team bench, He might have died from blood loss. Neck protectors and kevlar socks reduce but do not eliminate the risk of lacerations, and the socks are not mandatory.