By Suzanne Hoholik
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When the fastest game in sports comes to a halt because a hockey player is down on the ice or heads to the bench trailing blood, it’s time for the Columbus Blue Jackets medical team to kick into gear.
Athletic trainers and three doctors are at every game, as well as a paramedic crew from the Columbus Division of Fire.
Head team trainer Mike Vogt is the first person to head onto the ice to assess players who need medical attention. He tells the medical staff what he’s learned with one of two hand signals: If he points to the bench, he needs a doctor. If he raises a fist, everyone — assistant trainers, team doctors and medics — is to respond.
To make sure each person knows his or her role in a medical emergency on game nights, the team held a series of drills recently in Nationwide Arena.
NHL leaders told all hockey clubs this year that they need to put together plans to respond to medical emergencies and serious injuries.
Last year, Florida Panthers winger Richard Zednik suffered a slashed carotid artery when a teammate inadvertently kicked his throat. In 2005, defenseman Jiri Fischer went into cardiac arrest on the Detroit Red Wings bench.
On Friday, Vogt had Zamboni driver Rich Phillips — dressed in hockey gear — play a range of injured players, including one who had lost consciousness after hitting the boards and one who complained of neck pain on the bench.
In one scenario, Phillips played a goaltender knocked out in the net.
Vogt went to the goalie and quickly raised his fist.
Doctors shuffled onto the ice in their dress shoes, and medics pushed a gurney toward the goal.
The goalie was breathing, so they strapped him to a backboard with his uniform on. Then they discussed how to get him onto the gurney.
“I think ... we get the cot down, lift him up and then slide the cot under him,” said paramedic Kevin Harr.
It worked, and Vogt told them not to extend the gurney to its full height.
“You should never transport a guy off the ice up on the cot; it’s top-heavy,” Vogt said. “It should be down because there are ruts in the ice and you could slip.”
Vogt added that players should be wheeled off the ice feet first instead of head first. Otherwise, a slip could slam a player’s head into the boards.
“And what about those sharp blades on the end of his feet?” Vogt said.
Cover them with plastic guards.
Then they discussed whether to take off the goalie’s helmet.
“My vote is, leave the helmet on, barring any type of facial trauma,” said Dr. Joseph Ruane, team doctor and a sports-medicine physician.
The group agreed the helmet would remain on until the player had to have X-rays taken at the hospital. If the player had trouble breathing en route, medics would cut the helmet off.
Knowing that the team’s medical staff is prepared for an emergency was reassuring to Blue Jackets defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, who walked through the arena.
“When you see what happened to that Zednik, it’s nice to know that people will know what to do,” he said.