Patient Safety

First - Do No Harm..

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Deciding whether to help somone injured (particularly if you aren't trained ) can be scary​​

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What if i make things worse ?

What if i paralyse them ?

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You are protected in law if you act in good faith to prevent death..

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Why should you get involved ? - All the people we ride with are part of of our wider family (our motocross family) and we should help with these rules below - we could prevent a death

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1 - prevent further injury (do what you can to prevent them being hit by further bikes and riders) 

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2 - get help quick (make sure other specators understand severity

- use one rider or spectator to go and get help (or call 999)

 

3 - if their own bike is out of control (rear wheel still spinning) and causing more injury - turn it off 

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4 - if the bike is on smoking or spurting fuel everywhere - you may choose to move / drag the bike or patient away - always keep a fire extinguisher in your van

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One of the most serious injuries in motocross - are injuries to the spinal cord that can lead to permanent paralysis - this is why people are worried about moving patients (particularly the ones that arent moving 

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the following are reasons you may need to move a patient who is unresponsive and not moving 

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1 - environment ( risk of being set on fire , face down in water, etc)

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2 - massive / catastophic bleeding (they will die in a couple of minutes if you do not deal with this)

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3 - obstructed airway / not breathing - they will die within a few minutes if you do not deal with this 

 

please go to main learning pages - on how to treat bleeding / breathing issues and how to move a patient if you are worried about spinal injury

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Cervical spinal motion restriction​​

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Minimise movement of the neck. If the person is awake and alert, encourage them to self-maintain their neck in a comfortable, stable position​

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Never force an uncooperative person into any position, as this may make an injury worse.

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If the person is unresponsive and lying on their back, kneel behind their head and immobilise their head and neck using the head or trapezius squeeze technique to maintain a neutral in-line position.

 

Consider the need to open the person’s airway using the ‘jaw-thrust’ technique. Airway opening, if required, always has priority over in-line immobilisation; using a jaw thrust manoeuvre should maintain a neutral position of the neck.  (link to jaw thrust)

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If the person is unresponsive and is lying face down, check if their airway is open and hold their neck in a stable position. If you need to open their airway, ask others to help you carefully roll them as a unit onto their back, while keeping their neck in line with their body and as stable as possible. Then apply the head or trapezius squeeze.​ (link to trapezius squeeze)

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