CFD to offer First Responder Athletic Training Program to parents, coaches

The Canton Fire Department will partner with two local emergency medicine doctors to offer a first responder athletic training program next Thursday, November 11, at the Canton Town Club. The free program, intended for parents and youth sports coaches, begins at 7 p.m. and will last for two hours.

Canton resident Dr. Dan Muse approached then Deputy Fire Chief Charlie Doody in 2007 with the idea of offering a special clinic for youth coaches to teach basic first aid skills and CPR. An estimated 40 parents and coaches attended this first program, according to Doody. Now, three years later, Chief Doody has worked with Muse to update the clinic to include sports injury hot topics such as concussions.

Muse worked to develop the clinic with Dr. Ken Lawson, a colleague at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital. Both Muse and Lawson had experience coaching local youth sports teams and had seen firsthand the injuries that can occur. Now, the duo teams with local fire departments and offers similar clinics six to 10 times a year.

Attendees of the event will be broken up into groups and will rotate through three stations: CPR, AED (automated external defibrillator), and sports-related injuries. The CPR portion of the program includes instruction and practice without a formalized test.

“We feel it’s better that people know how to do it, rather than take a test, which they may not do,” Muse said.

Additionally, Muse stressed the importance of knowing how to operate an AED, which is specifically designed to be used by laypersons in cases of life-threatening cardiac emergencies.

“Many sports fields and facilities now have AEDs, but people who have never used them before are often frightful of opening the box,” he said. “We want to expose people because it’s extremely self-explanatory and easy to learn.”

In the sports-related injury portion of the program, attendees will learn about common injuries and conditions that can lead to serious injury or death. Muse and Lawson offer case studies from their time in the ER involving heat exhaustion, dehydration, and dangerous drills.

Muse, Lawson, and Doody will lead a question and answer session following the clinic.

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Posted by Jeffrey Cattel on Nov 4 2010. Filed under News, Police & Fire. Both comments and pings are currently closed.