National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), KSI, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) all converge on the same framework: every athletic venue should have a written Emergency Action Plan (EAP), reviewed before each season, practiced at least once, and posted at the venue. Most youth programs do not have one. Programs that do see meaningfully better outcomes when emergencies happen.

This is the template. Adapt it for each venue your program uses.

The 11 elements.

  1. The 911 address. Not “the field on Maple Street.” The address emergency medical services (EMS) will navigate to. For multi-field complexes, the specific entrance and field designation. Include GPS coordinates if the venue is hard to find.

  2. The closest hospital with a pediatric emergency room (ER). Full address, phone number, drive time in normal traffic, drive time in heavy traffic. Some pediatric emergencies are best routed to a children’s hospital even if it is not the closest ER.

  3. The secondary closest urgent care. For non-911 situations.

  4. automated external defibrillator (AED) location. Walking time from each field, court, or rink at the venue. The 90-second standard from the AED-location piece. Include who has the key or code if the AED is in a locked cabinet.

  5. cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)/AED-certified adults. Named roster of every adult on-site at practices and games who is currently certified. Phone numbers. The kid in cardiac arrest needs the certified adult identifiable in 30 seconds.

  6. EMS access. Which gate. Who has the key. Line of sight from the field. For school facilities with locked perimeters, the access plan needs to be coordinated with the school.

  7. The designated 911 caller. A named role, not “whoever sees it happen.” Typically the team manager or head coach. Backup designated.

  8. The designated EMS-meeter. The adult who walks to the access point and waves EMS in. Different person from the 911 caller because both jobs happen simultaneously.

  9. The designated parent-notifier. The adult who calls families during the event. Often a team-manager parent. The head coach is usually busy with the injured kid.

  10. The master roster. Every kid’s emergency contacts, allergies, current medications, insurance, special considerations (asthma, diabetes, seizure history, anaphylaxis). Sealed envelope or password-protected document.

  11. Weather and environmental policies. Lightning thresholds (the 30/30 rule), tornado-shelter location, heatstroke protocol, AQI cancellation thresholds. The protocols that turn a sudden storm into a practiced response.

The pre-season practice.

NATA recommends programs run through the EAP at least once per season. Even a 15-minute walkthrough at the first parent meeting:

Walk to the AED. Time it.

Identify the EMS access point. Walk it.

Read the 911 script aloud (the address, the field designation, the kind of emergency expected).

Run a tabletop scenario: “Suspected concussion right now. Who calls 911? Who calls the parent? Who walks EMS in?” The named roles get rehearsed.

Programs that do this once at the start of the season have substantially better real-event response than programs that have never run through it.

Multi-venue considerations.

For programs that travel, each tournament venue needs a quick EAP review on arrival. The 5-minute walk:

Find the AED. Note the location.

Find the EMS access point.

Find the closest hospital.

Take a photo of the venue address sign for the 911 call.

The team manager or head coach owns this. Five minutes per venue. Saves the panicked search if something happens.

For coaches.

A laminated 4x6 card with the EAP basics in your equipment bag. The kid mid-practice with a possible cardiac event is the moment you reach for the card, not your phone’s contacts.

Practice the language. “We have a [age] year old [male/female] with [symptoms]. We are at [address]. We need [ambulance/fire/police]. The access point is [location].” Practiced once, easy in the moment. Improvised, hard.

For team managers.

Ownership. Someone has to own the EAP. Usually the team manager parent. If nobody owns it, it does not exist.

Distribution. Every coach, assistant coach, chaperone, and parent volunteer should have a copy. Email at the start of each season. Print copies in the safety bag.

Updates. As medical conditions change, as kids change phone numbers, as venues change schedules, the EAP needs updating. At least once per season.

For parents.

Provide complete and current information for the master roster. The kid with newly-diagnosed asthma whose inhaler the team manager does not know about is the kid who has a worse outcome.

Ask the program: “Is there a written EAP for this season? May I see it?” A program that has one will share. A program that says “we’ll figure it out if something happens” is operating without the framework.

The honest read. Most youth-sports emergencies are handled successfully by improvisation. The few that are not, the difference between the kid who recovers and the kid who does not is usually the EAP. NATA and KSI are direct: the cost of writing one is small. The cost of not having one is real, and shows up at the worst moment.

The 30 minutes a program spends building the EAP at the start of the season is the highest-leverage safety investment available. Adapt this template, distribute it, practice it once.