As a sports fan, I saw the news that Tim Tebow, who is currently playing baseball in the Arizona Fall League, was very up front and present to comfort a fan who suffered a seizure. It was reported that Tebow waited with the man until paramedics arrived. It’s wonderful that Tebow and another unnamed New York player in uniform were present by the man until paramedics arrived.
The problem is that there should have been trained medical staff for the team present with the man and providing the medical care that was needed until paramedics arrived. The team and stadium should have had an emergency medical plan in place to deal with such medical issues for fans and players.
It’s great for reporters and fans to comment on how great Tebow was for staying with the fan, but additionally people should be asking the question: where was the AFL teams’ athletic training and medical staff? What role did they have during the medical episode for the fan?
After this serious medical issue at the AFL ballpark, let’s hope and count on the fact that the team and league will develop and implement an emergency plan for dealing with future medical emergencies or if they have a plan, they will engage in the evaluation process to determine why was no athletic training staff or medical staff involved in tending to a medical situation in the ballpark.
The following sources of information contributed to the writing of this piece:
http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0577633878198459711-4
By Dr. Fred J. Cromartie
Dr. Fred J. Cromartie, is the Director of Doctoral Studies at the United States Sports Academy, and can be reached at cromarti@ussa.edu.