On-Field Cervical Spine Immobilisation

On-field cervical spine management decides, using the Canadian C-spine rule, which injured athletes need full in-line immobilisation, and delivers it with as little handling as possible.

Sport supplies the high-risk mechanisms: an axial load to the head from a collapsed scrum, a tackle to the crown or a dive into shallow water, and a fall from a horse. The decision covers both whether to immobilise and whether you can safely decide not to. An athlete who meets the criteria can be cleared on the field; one who does not travels immobilised.

Practice has changed in parts. The long board is now an extrication device only, and rigid collars are no longer applied routinely to every injured athlete, though UK guidance keeps a semi-rigid collar in the sequence for those who need immobilisation, with named exceptions.

This page is about the field. The injuries themselves sit on the Cervical Spine Fracture and Trauma page.