5 Ways to Improve your School’s EAP

5 Ways to Improve your School or Venue’s EAP

By: Beth Jones, ATC

There is always room for improvement. Dust off that old Emergency Action Plan, and get ready to finish the rest of the year on a high note. 

1. Implement a Medical Time Out (MTO)

• • What’s an MTO? An MTO is a way to make sure all medical personnel (ATs, EMTs, physicians), and anyone else playing a role in the event of a medical emergency (coaches, school administrators) are educated and prepared on gameday. MTO was created by the Kyle Group and co-branded by the Korey Stringer Institute. Per KSI: “Following a medical timeout procedure reduces, and in most cases, eliminates chaos and confusion because these professionals simply took the time to be prepared.”
  • More info & MTO template

2. The More, The Merrier

• • The more CPR/AED certified coaches/staff the better in the event of an emergency. It’s better to have more qualified hands than not enough.
  • Encourage assistant coaches, admin to take courses; share local classes, how to find them, or become an instructor. 

3. Who Holds the Key?

• • Know which keys open which doors/gates and who has the keys that unlock them.

4. Type It Up, Print It Out 

• • Type up key details of your EAP, print them out, distribute to coaches/administrators, place on walls for quick reference.
  • Make sure it’s facility specific–the pool EAP will differ from the field house EAP.

5. Practice, Practice, Practice 

• • It’s one thing to have an EAP on paper. It’s entirely another when it comes time to implement. The only way to know how effective your EAP is? Run through it- more than once. Find the hiccups and missing pieces before it comes time to run it for real!