Emergency Contact Details at Events

In from the MYA Race Officer, Darin Ballington

There was a medical incident at a recent MYA district event at which a competitor suffered a heart attack. The competitor was very fortunate that there were two skippers competing who were trained in CPR and managed to assist until medical help arrived.

However, this highlighted an area of concern that we need to address.

During the incident their was confusion because the race team had not collected all the emergency contact details for the competitors and race team and although we all feel that we know those who we compete against it became apparent that at this event there was difficulty in providing the emergency services with contact details for the competitors family.

Therefore I am writing to you to reinforce to all clubs and members the importance of this simple emergency contact form. It is something that we all forget and many do not consider important but we must ensure that this basic information is provided prior to racing commencing. This requirement is in the MYA Standard Sailing instructions and is observed at larger events but an accident or medical emergency can occur at any venue, at any time and it is imperative that we observe the correct practices. Please also remember that any volunteers and members of the race team should also provide this information.

As individuals we should be helping the race teams by providing this at registration, but race teams and RO’s should also be more diligent in requesting this.

Whilst writing this i will point you in the direction of the health and safety section of the MYA knowledge base where there is valuable information for clubs and members about health & safety. https://www.mya-uk.org.uk/knowledge_base/health-safety-information/

Thanks for your help in this, Darin