Emergency Action Plan
General Information
This plan is provided to serve as a guide for emergency action required in the Athletic Training Room, Pucillo Gymnasium, Brooks Hall, Biemsderfer Stadium, or any playing or conditioning area on the Millersville University Campus used by the Intercollegiate Athletic Program.
Before any athletes begin participation with an athletic team they must meet the following standards.
1. All athletes are required to have an entrance physical and/or a past M.U. athletic physical on file in the Health Center before they may be allowed take part in any supervised pre-season conditioning programs.
2. All athletes must have a signed Athletic Insurance Policy Card on file before they may practice.
3. All athletes participating in Intercollegiate Athletics must have had a physical examination performed within the guidelines established by the health service before their first official practice as specified by the NCAA.
NCAA Divison II Manual
17.1.5 Mandatory Medical Examination. Prior to participation in any practice, competition or out-of-season conditioning activities, student-athletes who are beginning their initial season of eligibility shall be required to undergo a medical examination or evaluation administered or supervised by a physician. (Adopted: 1/8/07 effective 8/1/07)
11.1.6 Sports-Safety Training. Each head coach and all other coaches who are employed full time at an institution shall maintain current certification in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automatic external defibrillator (AED) use. (Adopted: 1/16/10 effective 8/1/10)
Coaches Responsibilities
A member of the teams coaching staff should supervise all practices, conditioning and weight training sessions. This is for safety reasons and for insurance purposes. Any unsupervised activity is not covered by the University's athletic insurance policy.
Athletic training staff coverage of practices can only be accomplished with appropriate notification. Coaches should make every effort to keep the athletic training staff informed of changes in schedule. Please try to call and/or leave a message. Notification through athletic training students or student athletes will not be accepted. Athletic training room personnel will cover all scheduled practices ONLY AFTER 24 HOURS notification. Weekend practices will be covered after (2) day's (48 hours) notification. Notifications respecting these time limitations will guarantee athletic training room personnel coverage.
If an athletic team has not showed up by the time practice is scheduled to start then the student and supervising athletic trainer will assume they were not notified of a schedule change and leave.
Coverage by the athletic training staff and/or athletic training students will be determined by the potential risk for injury associated with that particular sport, in season or out of season status, and staff availability.
Emergency Procedures
Coaches Pre Practice/Event Site Responsibilities:
Is the area itself safe for participation? Is Certified Athletic Trainer or athletic training student available with a radio? If not, have planned access to a telephone. Know the location of a telephone closest to your event area. If building is locked do you have a key?
A set plan as to how the ambulance will access the field/area (if necessary) should be pre-arranged prior to any incident. If there are gates to get through--are they locked? Who has keys? Who will you send to greet the ambulance and guide them to the scene? (at MU, campus police will usually arrive to help direct the ambulance in)
Event areas have phones located in the following areas:
| Pucillo | |
| Pool | Phone in coach’s office and outside hallway |
| Wrestling Room | Phone in coaches office |
| Gymnasium/Soccer Fields | Phones in lobby and athletic training room |
| Softball Field | Phones in each dugout/south lobby or athletic training room. |
| Spoils Field | Phone in south lobby or athletic training room |
| Brooks | |
| Gym, Tennis Courts, Pool | Campus phone in south hallway or athletic training room |
| Stadium | |
| Track, Football practice field |
Campus phone in football locker room, Carpenter-Trout weight room or athletic training room |
| Carpenter-Trout | Phone available at the attendant desk inside the door to the left. |
| Baseball |
Phone available in press box |
| McComsey Tennis Courts |
Campus phone available in McComsey Hall. For weekend matches campus security should be called to guarantee building is open. |
The athletic training staff will have AEDs at staffed events. In case the athletic training staff is not present during an activity, AEDs are located in the following areas for activities near these buildings/locations:
| Pucillo | AED located in south hallway or athletic training room when staffed. |
| Spoils Field | AED located in south lobby of Pucillo or athletic training room when staffed. |
| Brooks | AED located on the 1st floor in the main gymnasium. |
| Stadium | AED located in Carpenter-Trout or in athletic training room when staffed. |
| Baseball | AED located in Jefferson Hall at the main entrance in the vending area or in Gaige Hall at one the 1st floor at the main entrance. |
| McComsey Tennis Courts | AED located in Hull Hall on the 1st floor at the main entrance or Campus Security/University Police can be contacted to respond with an AED. |
| Carpenter-Trout | AED located at the main entrance to the facility. |
Phone Numbers
On Campus: Life-Threatening Medical Emergencies 9-911
Other Emergencies 717-872-3911 (Campus Police)
Health Services 717-872-3250
University Police 717-872-3433
Athletic Training Rooms
Pucillo 717-872-3711
Stadium 717-872-3870
(Using a campus phone, only dial the last 4 digits)
Off Campus: Life-Threatening Medical Emergencies 911
Lancaster Regional Hospital ER 717-291-8111
Lancaster Regional Hospital Information 717-291-8211
Lancaster General Hospital 717-544-5511
Lancaster General Health Urgent Care 717-544-0150
At away events, is there a certified athletic trainer present or available? If a certified athletic trainer is not present, is an athletic training student present? Where and who are they? Is there easy access to a phone or communication?
Emergency Procedures for Injured Athletes
- Assess injury (general impression of athlete, chief complaint/level of consciousness/life threatening conditions) and call for athletic trainer if available but not present.
- In the absence of an athletic trainer, determine whether the injury is life threatening. If so, follow appropriate procedures and initiate EMS system.
- Assess airway and breathing. Assure adequate ventilation
- Assess circulation. Assess for and control major bleeding. Assess pulse. Assess skin (color, temperature and condition).
- For EMS dial 9-911 on campus and 911 off campus. Provide all necessary information to dispatch. i.e. location, nature of injury, what if any first aid has been provided, etc.
- Have a bystander contact Campus Security to notify them of the emergency and incoming EMS team.
- Stay with the athlete until proper medical attention has been provided.
- Players or non-medical personnel should not touch, move or roll an injured player.
- In a life-threatening situation, the ATC/ATS/coaches' responsibilities would be to stabilize the injured athlete to the limits of their first aid/CPR certification, call EMS, and/or refer to the proper medical facility if/when such action is appropriate.
For injuries that are not life threatening:
Summon the athletic training staff or transport the athlete to the nearest athletic training room. If the athletic trainers are not on duty, then transport to Witmer Health Center. If it is after hours, the athlete must see the athletic training staff first thing during the next available hours. Contact the athletic trainer if there are any questions as to treatment and/or referral. This plan applies to all athletes involved in the official play or practice of an intercollegiate sport sponsored by Millersville University. Immediate first aid will be rendered by the certified athletic trainer/athletic training student/coach at the scene. CPR will be administered by anyone qualified. The ATC/ATS/coach should be certified in First Aid, CPR, and AED.
Lightning Safety
Decisions to remove teams or individuals from practice activities will be made by the certified athletic trainers on staff. In absence of a certified athletic trainer individual sport coaches will have to use their best judgment taking into account the guidelines set forth here.
Decisions to remove teams or individuals from athletic competition or events will be made by the certified athletic trainer in conjunction with the athletic director and with the cooperation of the officials.
Suspension of Play/Practice Guidelines:
Millersville University has subscribed to the DTN Weather Sentry Alert System. This system is used by the NCAA for all outdoor championship competitions across the nation. Alerts are sent via email or text message to subscribers to notify of severe weather and lightning. Lightning alerts will be received for the first strike within a 20 mile radius and a 7 mile radius of the University. Upon notification of a strike within 7 miles, play/practice must be suspended, the athletic training staff will monitor the storm via DTN's Weather Sentry Site, and NCAA guidelines will be used for safe return to competition.
When considering resumption of an athletics activity, NSSL staff recommends that ideally everyone should wait 30 minutes after the last flash of lightning or sound of thunder before returning to the field or activity.
If there is not access to the DTN Weather Sentry system, the following are recommendations for ways to proceed. As a minimum, National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and the NCAA recommend that by the time the monitor obtain a flash-to-bang count of 30 seconds; all individuals should leave the athletic site and go to a safe structure or location.
Guidelines for Lightning Safety:
1. Know where the closest "safe structure or location" is to the field or playing area, and know how long it takes to get to that safe area. Safe structure or location is defined as:
a. Any building normally occupied or frequently used by people, i.e., a building with plumbing and/or electrical wiring that acts to electrically ground the structure. Avoid using shower facilities for safe shelter and do not use the showers or plumbing during a thunderstorm.
b. In the absence of a sturdy, frequently inhabited building, any vehicle with a hard metal roof (not a convertible or golf cart) and rolled up windows can provide a measure of safety. A vehicle is certainly better than remaining outdoors. It is not the rubber tires that make a vehicle a safe shelter, but the metal roof, which dissipates the lightning strike around the vehicle. DO NOT TOUCH THE SIDES OF THE VEHICLE.
2. Be aware of how close lightning is occurring. The flash-to-bang method is the easiest. To use this method count the seconds from the time lightning is sighted to when the clap of thunder is heard. Divide this number by five to obtain how far away (in miles) the lightning is occurring.
3. If no safe structure or location is within a reasonable distance, find a thick grove of small trees surrounded by taller trees or a dry ditch. Assume a crouched position on the ground with only the balls of the feet touching the ground, wrap your arms around your knees and lower your head. Minimize your body's surface area, and minimize contact with the ground. Do not lie flat.
4. If unable to reach safe shelter, stay away from the tallest trees or objects (such as light poles or flagpoles), metal objects (such as fences or bleachers), individual trees, standing pools of water and open fields. Avoid being the highest object in a field. Do not take shelter under a single, tall tree.
5. A person who feels his or her hair stand on end, or skin tingle, should immediately crouch, as described in item 4.
6. Observe the following basic first aid procedures in managing victims of a lightning strike.
Survey the scene for safety.
Activate local EMS.
Lightening victims do not carry a ‘charge' and are safe to touch.
If necessary, move the victim with care to a safe location.
Evaluate airway, breathing, circulation, and begin CPR if necessary.
Evaluate and treat for hypothermia, shock, fractures and/or burns.
7. All individuals have the right to leave an athletic site in order to seek a safe structure if the person feels in danger of impending lightening activity, without fear of repercussions or penalty from anyone.
