What is Team and Event Medicine?
Team and Event Medicine is a specialised area of sports medicine focused on providing medical care, injury prevention, and emergency response for athletes and participants during team sports, competitions, and sporting events. It involves on-site medical coverage, injury management, and performance monitoring to ensure athlete safety and well-being.
The Importance of Team & Event Medicine
- Ensures athlete safety before, during, and after competition
- Reduces risk of serious complications from injuries
- Improves performance & recovery through expert medical guidance
- Provides immediate medical response to life-threatening emergencies
Team Medicine
Team medicine refers to the ongoing medical care of a sports team, often involving a sports medicine physician, athletic trainers, physical therapists, and other specialists.
Roles of a Team Physician
- Pre-season medical screening – Identifying health risks, previous injuries, and fitness levels.
- On-field injury assessment and treatment – Managing acute injuries during training and games.
- Rehabilitation & return-to-play decisions – Ensuring safe recovery and preventing re-injury.
- Concussion management – Evaluating, monitoring, and determining return-to-play timelines.
- Performance optimisation – Providing advice on training loads, nutrition, hydration, and recovery
- Emergency preparedness – Planning for serious injuries like fractures, cardiac events, or head trauma
When is a Team Physician Needed?
- Professional and amateur sports teams (football, basketball, rugby, etc.)
- Collegiate and high school teams that require dedicated medical staff
- Olympic and national teams competing at an elite level
Event Medicine
Event medicine focuses on providing medical coverage during sporting events to manage injuries, medical emergencies, and athlete health.
Roles of an Event Medicine Physician
- Pre-event risk assessment – Identifying potential health and safety hazards.
- On-site medical coverage – Treating injuries, dehydration, heat exhaustion, or cardiac issues.
- Emergency response and triage – Handling severe injuries (fractures, concussions, cardiac arrest)
- Collaboration with paramedics and hospitals – Ensuring quick transportation for critical cases
- Recognising and managing environmental factors – Heat stress, altitude sickness, or cold exposure risks
When is an Event Medicine Physician Needed?
- Marathons and triathlons – Dealing with dehydration, muscle cramps, or cardiac events
- Extreme sports events – Handling trauma from high-impact activities (e.g., skiing, motocross).
- Combat sports (boxing, MMA, wrestling) – Managing concussions, cuts, and sports injuries.
- Team sports championships – Providing sideline coverage for tournaments
