How to switch doctor/paramedic for martial arts tournament?

For years our 'family' of martial arts schools have used a certain person for the medical official we're required to keep in case of injuries. This guy is a Jr. Master, taekwondo instructor, and Dr. But he's a chiropractor doctor, not a medical or emergency care doctor.





I co-run a tournament, and the other directors agree that we want to get someone with emergency care expertise, but we're afraid of offending him.





How do I politely ask Dr. Master Chiropractor to step aside for a paramedic or better experienced doctor?|||First off,





Getting a paramedic team on standby is a must. This can be done with minor coordination and expense with a local hospital.





I would keep the Chiro on hand just as I would additional trainer staff. You don't want to yell the paramedics over for simple things that can be fixed on the spot.





Another GREAT idea is if you have a local university handy, especially one with a sports team as they all have trainer programs. People who are accustomed to and are training to handle sport specific injuries. Having a few students from a local sports trainer program can also make things easier.





I think it is easy to just be an adult with the Chiro, I am sure he won't mind for a tournament if there are emergency medical staff, and sports injury training staff. I would ask him to fulfill an advisory capacity in helping you get qualified people for these roles. Let him be the medical advisor, safety or medical coordinator. In fact, if you are afraid offending him, then by placing him in charge of safety and having him coordinate to get the right medical staff, you are moving him up.





This helps put the pressure off him in regards to having to run out on the mat, and puts his medical training to best use as basically a head doctor of the tournament. Allowing EMTs, and training staff to do the real medical work as needed and allowing him to oversee it.





That is a great way to present it to him, by simply asking him to have a "bigger role" and being the advisor/coordinator for medical purposes.





Of course, you could just talk to him and see how he feels about the whole thing and how involved he feels.|||Why ask him to step aside? Having both would be excellent. You'd find that an MD will likely not have the experience of a chiro, who specializes in spinal injuries as well as tissue damage to the body.|||I agree with the two other posters. First, I don't understand why there isn't an EMT/paramedic on standby to begin with. Second, having that person and a chiropractor on staff is not a bad idea. I don't think you will be able to get a doctor outside of your school (you mention chiro. guy is is a practitioner) without it costing you a lot of money. Plus, the main legal difference between chiro. and M.D. is that the M.D. can write a prescription, which is business you want a hospital worrying about, not you. Your chief medical concern is that if there is an accident, you have a person who can treat the injuries and if needed send them off to a hospital. That's what an EMT does. Your chiro. guy is a health care professional- he shouldn't get miffed working with someone else since their jobs are both helping people. If he gets pissed, that's his problem and replace him accordingly.|||Dr. Master Chiropractor would be a much better choice than a paramedic by a long shot. So unless you want to pay an emergency physician $500+ to stand around then I suggest you stick with the doctor you have.|||I don't know how large your tournaments are but I would bet that having a paramedic there would probably lower your insurance costs... So you can be honest with him and tell him that for insurance reasons you've got a paramedic to replace/help him watch the tournament...