I had my first experience of abandoning a match yesterday (open age women's league), unfortunately due to a very nasty injury to a player (horrible arm fracture) that ultimately resulted in extended treatment on the pitch and an air ambulance landing in the centre circle. I was very grateful that a doctor and a couple of nurses were present and looked after the injured player.
My question is regarding the process I followed. Did I do everything correctly? Was I anything else I should have considered? Has anyone had a similar situation?
Initially my focus was on ensuring the player received appropriate treatment and that an ambulance had been called. Luckily, this was done swiftly by people with appropriate skills (see above). So then I shifted focus to other players who had witnessed the incident and were upset (a few players / coaches in tears). After about 10mins it was clear that the player was not to be moved on medical advice, and that a number of other players were too upset to continue. I called both coaches and captains together and we mutually agreed to abandon. I informed both sets of players.
I remained at the venue until the air ambulance and regular ambulance attended - it was probably about an hour and a half until they left with the injured player. I then helped the venue's facilties manager to ensure their incident log was completed before leaving.
I submited an extraordinary report on the FA Whole Game system detailing the reasons for the abandonment.
Looking back, I realised that I just acted on autopilot and did what felt right at each point, without really thinking about process. For example, I didn't note down what time we were into the match when I abandoned (I was able to get this from my Garmin data later) or the name/number of the player (again, I was able to get this later). Is there anything else I should have done or considered? Just to note, the injury was the result of a (fair) slide tackle made by the injured player herself - no foul so no need to consider any sanction against another player - just a freakish accident).
I'm reffereeing the same team again next week so, hopefully, I'll get to find out how the player is doing. It really wasn't pleasant and I confess that once I got home it realised that it had shaken me up a bit.
These things happen though, unfortunately, so thought I'd just detail it here in case there was something I could do better should I find myself in a similar situation again. Thanks.
My question is regarding the process I followed. Did I do everything correctly? Was I anything else I should have considered? Has anyone had a similar situation?
Initially my focus was on ensuring the player received appropriate treatment and that an ambulance had been called. Luckily, this was done swiftly by people with appropriate skills (see above). So then I shifted focus to other players who had witnessed the incident and were upset (a few players / coaches in tears). After about 10mins it was clear that the player was not to be moved on medical advice, and that a number of other players were too upset to continue. I called both coaches and captains together and we mutually agreed to abandon. I informed both sets of players.
I remained at the venue until the air ambulance and regular ambulance attended - it was probably about an hour and a half until they left with the injured player. I then helped the venue's facilties manager to ensure their incident log was completed before leaving.
I submited an extraordinary report on the FA Whole Game system detailing the reasons for the abandonment.
Looking back, I realised that I just acted on autopilot and did what felt right at each point, without really thinking about process. For example, I didn't note down what time we were into the match when I abandoned (I was able to get this from my Garmin data later) or the name/number of the player (again, I was able to get this later). Is there anything else I should have done or considered? Just to note, the injury was the result of a (fair) slide tackle made by the injured player herself - no foul so no need to consider any sanction against another player - just a freakish accident).
I'm reffereeing the same team again next week so, hopefully, I'll get to find out how the player is doing. It really wasn't pleasant and I confess that once I got home it realised that it had shaken me up a bit.
These things happen though, unfortunately, so thought I'd just detail it here in case there was something I could do better should I find myself in a similar situation again. Thanks.
