Red Cross First Aid, Health and Safety for Coaches
NFHS Learning Center Concussion Courses
SCAT5 Checklist
CDC Concussion Symptoms
Practitioners of HEMA are no strangers to injury—it’s not uncommon to find a collection of vividly blue, black, and purple bruises after a tournament or lengthy sparring session at the club. This is the unfortunate reality of the hobby, mainly due to the fact we make a habit of swinging 3 lb crowbars at each other as hard as we possibly can (another blog post for another day). I have been reflecting a lot lately on injuries which happen during normal practice, outside of the tournament setting. At any tournament there would be an EMT present to assist with any injuries, but what about during practice at our club? There are a few doctors, nurses, and EMTs among us, but what if none of them are present?
I recently witnessed two comrades receive injuries during practice (just normal class), both of them concussions. Neither of them realized they were concussed until later, hours or days after the incident. On both occasions there were no classmates with medical knowledge present during practice, and those of us who were there didn’t know our friends had been concussed, or didn’t even think to check for concussion. If we had suspected they were concussed, we could have gotten them medical attention right away, and neither would have had to go through the unsettling (read: terrifying) experience of deducing their condition on their own. Setting aside the fact I don’t think either person should have received blows with enough force to concuss them, what can we do differently to ensure our classmates receive appropriate medical attention right when they need it?
Many among us have suffered concussions, ranging from mild to serious, while practicing or competing in HEMA. What makes concussions trickier to deal with than other injuries is the frequent “hidden” nature of brain injuries. It’s easy to see if someone has a bruise, or broken bone, but how can we tell if someone’s brain is hurt? Being currently under Covid-19 lockdown and having loads of time at home, I took it upon myself to learn more about concussions (and sports-related injuries in general) so I can be prepared for what can happen during HEMA practice. I’d like to share some of the resources I’ve discovered along the way!
On this coming Thursday March 26, 2020 at 7:30 PM EST, a contact from the SCA, Symone de la Rochelle (not her real name, but I’m using it to protect her privacy) will be offering a Zoom webinar on concussions in SCA, information which will also apply to HEMA! She has an extensive background in human cognition in the areas of speech recognition and language acquisition, and she has authored several papers on concussions. I encourage everyone to listen in! The Zoom conference info is: https://umd.zoom.us/j/4724505918:
The Red Cross has an amazing variety of online classes for certification, and I’ve spent the week chipping away at their First Aid, Health and Safety for Coaches course. It’s $55 and covers topics like heat-related injury, broken bones, and concussions. I’ve had first aid certification classes before, so a lot of the material was a refresher for me, but the sports-focused nature of the course was different from what I had studied before. It also led me to several other excellent concussion resources:
- NFHS Learning Center Concussion Course
- They’re free!
- CDC Concussion Symptoms List
- While it’s geared more toward parents checking for concussions in children and teens, I think the simplification of the information is helpful.
- Print or write out the list of symptoms to keep in your gear bag! You’ll always be prepared if someone receives a hard bonk during practice.
- SCAT5 Checklist
- I received this checklist from a doctor friend when I was dealing with my own (non-sword related) concussion last summer.
- This would be helpful to have with you if you plan to teach/lead any classes or study groups.
Here are all those links again:
Red Cross First Aid, Health and Safety for Coaches
NFHS Learning Center Concussion Courses
SCAT5 Checklist
CDC Concussion Symptoms