Guidelines for Hockey Trainers

A trainer's responsibilities include teaching safety, sportsmanship, leadership, and safe and fair play. More importantly is the responsibility of ensuring that all children are safe, having fun and respected. These guidelines detail the expectations of a trainer so that these responsibilites can be met.

  • Strive to enhance the safety of all participants at all times.

  • Use only those techniques which you are qualifies to administer.

  • Always err on the side of caution and never practice any behaviors which may ultimately harm a participant or worsen an injury.

  • Promote the values of fair play, integrity and friendship and never condone, encourage, engage or defend unsportsmanlike conduct including the use of performance enhancing substances.

  • Never intentionally mislead or lie about qualifications, education or professional affiliations.

  • Strive to achieve the highest level of competence and continue to educate yourself and improve your skills.



First Aid Kit

A first aid kit should be available at every practice and game. This kit should be simple, useful, and inexpensive, and be able to handle most medical emergencies.

The following is the recipe for a minimal first aid kit:

All items should be kept in a large ziplock (plastic) bag (gallon size)

  • 20 Band-Aids
  • 1-2 rolls of plastic tape
  • 2-4 sterile gauze pads
  • 3-4 small ziplock bags (to be used for ice bags) quart size
  • 1-2 chemical ice bags
  • 2 pairs of latex gloves
  • 2 alcohol wipes or disinfectant wipes
  • list of emergency telephone numbers for parents or team members
  • list of supplies that are contained in the kit

These materials can be obtained at pharmacy or a medical supply house. Contents should be replaced as used. Screwdrivers, pliers, screws, and nuts to repair helmets and facemasks should be part of a repair kit. The first aid kit should contain these repair materials.

Band-Aids

Band-Aids of varying sizes and shapes will cover abrasions and small cuts. A player with a bleeding wound must come off the ice and have the wound covered before he/she can resume play. Bank-Aids can serve as this cover.

Plastic Tape

We would suggest putting plastic tape in the kit because players will not put plastic tape on their sticks, and therefore, it won’t disappear from the kit as fast as white cloth tape. However, white tape is cheaper and can be used just as the plastic tape. Sterile gauze pads, along with the plastic or white cloth tape, should cover any wound that a simple Band-Aid cannot cover.

Ice Packs

The treatment for the bumps, bruises, and strains that players will get in hockey should almost always start with an ice pack. Since we always have ice shavings at the ice rink, it is very easy and economical to fill a ziplock bag with ice shavings. The bags are cheap and reusable. If you need an ice bag and ice chips are not available, then you can use a chemical ice bag. However, these bags are limited in the length of time that they stay cold, they are messy if the bag breaks while tying to activate the ‘‘cold’’ power, and they are relatively expensive.

Latex Gloves

Latex gloves are a must. Universal precautions [where we consider that every player might have the hepatitis or HIV virus] is what is practiced in hospitals, and this is what we must practice. Gloves will protect you from contaminated body fluids, such as blood and saliva. Always use gloves when putting a bandage on a bleeding or bloody wound. Place bloody jerseys and bandages in plastic bag for disposal so that they won’t contaminate other things. Alcohol wipes are inexpensive. However, wounds can also be cleaned by just washing with soap and water.

Phone Numbers

The first aid kit is a useful place to keep emergency telephone numbers for parents of team players, so that a parent can be called within a few minutes of the accident or injury. Telephone numbers of emergency facilities in your area can also be kept in the kit.

Store Bought Kits

Store-bought, ready-made first aid kits are fine as long as they include all of the items mentioned above. If these kits are missing some of these items, such as latex gloves, they should be purchased separately and added to the kit.

Other Items

Other items that can included, but are not required to be in the kit:

  • scissors
  • a mouth-to-mouth breathing device to use when doing CPR
  • triple antibiotic ointment
  • splints for broken wrist (two 14 inch pieces of hockey sticks taped together)
  • oral airway - useful for unconscious players or players who are having a seizure