Why do we have paramedics at showjumping and eventing shows but not always at dressage and showing shows? I ask this question because someone close to CTR competed in dressage at Bury Farm EV on Saturday, got bucked off in the warm up arena and got seriously injured. At the time, the severity of her condition was not known. She stood up and walked around. She is a tough cookie and tried to shrug it off. The pain in her side was thought by others to be, possibly a broken rib and so although she said that she thought she needed to go to hospital, people around, pursuaded her to take a pain killer and see how it goes rather than sit in A and E for hours. There was no professional medic on site so no one could assess her condition. She waited as advised by all around, including myself but on arriving back at the yard, she collapsed. An ambulance was called and she was admitted to the L and D. After an x-ray and a ct scan it was discovered that her fall from her horse had led to a ruptured spleen and serious internal bleeding. She was sent for emergency surgery and had her spleen removed along with 3 and half litres of internal bleeding. I thank God that she has survived and she is hopefully going to make a good recovery but of course her life will never be quite the same without her spleen. The big question is, why is it deemed safe to run dressage shows without medical support on site but jumping shows always warrant a medic. Horses can chuck you off at any show. I think competitors would be wise to be happy to pay a paramedic fee at every show and organisers would be prudent to ensure that there is a medical professional on site - at all shows. The words from a well meaning and helpful competitor to our injured rider were, you wouldnt be standing and walking if you were seriously injured. How wrong she was. Lesson learned. CTR will always have a paramedic on site at all our future championships, not just show jumping.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 21:21:19 +0000
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