The Golden Standard for Emergency Action Plans
An emergency action plan (EAP) is a one-page document that says exactly who does what when something goes wrong at your venue: who calls 911, who starts care, who grabs the AED, and who meets the ambulance. It is the single highest-leverage safety document a club can have, and the research says most programs do not have a complete one. The National Athletic Trainers' Association recommends a written, rehearsed EAP for every venue where athletes train or compete.
of secondary school athletic programs implement all 12 components of a best-practice EAP, even though 89% say they have one.
Source: Scarneo et al., Journal of Athletic Training (2019)the drop in survival odds for every minute a cardiac arrest goes without defibrillation. The plan exists to beat the clock.
Source: StatPearls, NIH National Library of Medicinethe maximum distance an AED should be from any field, court, strip, or platform, per the Smart Heart Sports Coalition.
Source: Smart Heart Sports Coalitionsudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes, and it is exactly what a rehearsed EAP is built for.
Source: American Heart AssociationDoes your venue meet the standard?
- A written EAP exists for every venue where you practice or compete
- The plan names roles, not people: who activates EMS, who starts care, who retrieves the AED, who directs the ambulance
- Venue address and access directions are written out for anyone calling 911
- AED location is marked in the plan and at the venue
- The plan is posted where coaches and staff can see it
- Everyone rehearses it at least once a year, before the season starts
- The plan is reviewed and updated annually and after any real emergency
Two pages, ten minutes to complete. Free to download, post, and share. Adapted with attribution from NATA and Korey Stringer Institute guidance.
What the evidence actually says
This is not an opinion page. The 2024 NATA position statement, the profession's definitive guidance, calls for a venue-specific, written EAP that is developed with local EMS, distributed to all stakeholders, posted at the venue, and rehearsed at least annually. Those are the same seven boxes in our checklist above.
The gap between believing and doing is the whole problem. In a national survey of athletic trainers published in the Journal of Athletic Training, 89% of secondary schools reported having an EAP, but fewer than one in ten implemented all twelve best-practice components. Community clubs, which usually have no athletic trainer on staff, start even further behind. That is exactly why a simple, complete template matters.
And the stakes are measured in minutes. Survival from sudden cardiac arrest falls roughly 7 to 10% for every minute without defibrillation, which is why the Smart Heart Sports Coalition, founded by the NFL with the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, NATA, and the Korey Stringer Institute, asks every venue for three things: a rehearsed EAP, an AED within 1 to 3 minutes, and CPR-trained coaches. The American Heart Association's cardiac emergency response plan program extends the same framework to any facility.
Why rehearsal is the whole game
A plan nobody has practiced is a document, not a response. In any emergency the first minutes are decided by whether people hesitate, and hesitation is what rehearsal removes. Walking through the plan once a season, physically, at the venue, with everyone in their role, is what converts paper into muscle memory. The National Football League's response to Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest in 2023 is the public example: the medical team had rehearsed its emergency plan before the game, the response began within seconds, and it worked. Your club's version costs ten minutes: take the plan to the venue, time the run to the AED, and say the 911 script out loud.
Go deeper
The definitive professional guidance this page is built on; full text in the Journal of Athletic Training.
Research-backed EAP guidance from the leading sport safety lab.
The full clinical template ours is adapted from.
CERP toolkits for schools and facilities.
The three-policy framework.
A free EAP program for school activities, with real rescue stories from coaches and students.
Practical advice on rehearsing.
Safety planning and coverage go together. Clubs in a Golden program can claim a complimentary coverage review, a membership benefit performed by a licensed specialist with no obligation.
Learn about the coverage reviewNot in a Golden program yet? and see what a full-stack program looks like.
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This resource is educational material, not medical, legal, or coverage advice. Statistics are drawn from the linked sources and reflect the populations studied. Always follow your organization's policies, your governing body's rules, and the direction of qualified medical professionals. In an emergency, call 911.