Abstract

Three major duties of the team physician, according to a consensus statement published in 2001, are ‘to plan and train for emergencies during competition and practice, address equipment and supply issues and provide for proper event coverage’. Various medical supplies have been consistently recommended in articles preceding and following the consensus statement while others have not. Nonetheless, there has never been an online survey of team physicians involved with the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine or the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine covering community, high school, collegiate and professional sporting events that documented the usage of supplies typically found in a team physician's main ‘medical bag’ by consensus standards. The purpose of this study was to document the usage frequencies of supplies listed as ‘highly desirable for the “medical bag” to include’ as well as stocking, storage and inventory maintenance protocols for these events and to compare them with recommendations from the consensus statement as well as some protocols involving prehospital care from a ‘wilderness’ perspective.