INJURY

REPORT SWORDFISH
2012

Compiled by Anders Linnard, GHFS

12 November, 2012
www.ghfs.se/swordfish

GENERAL
The seventh Swordfish was hosted at Aktiviteten, Mlndal, Sweden, 1-3
November 2012 by Gothenburg Historical Fencing School. The event included
seminars, workshops and six tournaments.

This years injury report from Swordfish is a little bit different, since we hired two
nurses that assisted the doctor throughout the tournaments. This meant that we
were able to write journals for all who sought medical treatment or advice. All of
them are also included in this document, even the most insignificant bruising or
swelling. With the exception of only a few injuries, the patients would have been
fine without any treatment at all, and most didnt even receive a bruise. This is
also why there are almost no photos in this document; most of the photos that
were taken didnt actually show anything.

STATISTICS
This year we hosted 6 steel full contact tournaments in the Joachim Nilsson
Memorial Tournament 2012. Altogether there were approximately 160 people
from 17 countries attending these tournaments and many of them fought in more
than one tournament. The event had over 220 visitors, 22 workshops and
dedicated sparring slots throughout the weekend.

Longsword - 77 fighters
Womens longsword - 18 fighters
Sabre - 38 fighters
Sword and buckler - 46 fighters
Rapier and dagger - 34 fighters
Grappling - 28 fighters

The amount of matches were well over 400 (357, plus grappling). All of them
were full contact, except grappling which didnt allow any punching, kicking or
violence to the head.

Overall 3 injuries were serious enough to call for medical attention beyond what
could be provided on location. This means that the injury rate was about 0,75%
per match (compared to 3% last year). If you count the injuries that caused some
sort of head trauma that required on-site neurological examination (in other
words, the patient was at least running the risk of sustaining some sort of
concussion during the incident), the number increases to 1.25%

SIMULATORS AND GEAR MALFUNCTION

The longswords used for the tournament were bought especially from Ensifer.
The single-handers were provided by Frie duellister and were from Mark Vickers.

The sabres and womens longswords were from Regenyei. The rapiers and
daggers were provided by the fighters.

In total three sabres broke, but no other serious simulator malfunctions have
been reported. Some of the simulators did however bend and needed to be
repaired or scrapped.

CONCERNS FOR THE FUTURE

Although safety has improved greatly since last year, there are still concerns. As
organisers we are worried about broken blades.
There is still no standard for protective gear for HEMA and no one knows how
well the current gear holds up against a thrust from a broken blade.
The standard for masks is also something of an issue. Although all of them
seemingly protect the fencers from serious injury, they are also of varying quality.
Some masks do not hold up as well to powerful cuts and at this point there is no
way of knowing which masks this is in advance.

On at least three occasions masks came off during a fight. In one of these
instances the result was a cut to the head (ID:17). This is the second time in the
Joachim Nilsson memorial tournament that an injury has occurred because a
mask comes off. In two of this years incidents, the fighter lost the mask in a nonwrestling related fencing situation, in other words due to a cut or a thrust. This
must be considered a gear malfunction and we want to ask manufacturers of
fencing gear to provide a solution.

Swordfish also encourages the Swedish and international federations to specify a
safety standard for equipment that manufacturers can follow, in which case we
will make it mandatory for future tournament participation.

Anders Linnard
Gothenburg, 12 November 2012

INJURIES
ID: 1
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Dislocation/fracture. Black nail due to limited circulation.
Where: Right pinkie
Treatment on location: Set the finger straight, circulation returned
Sent to hospital: Yes
Restrictions of competition or training: In cast for a week, then support splint
for three weeks.
Protective gear: Bandy gloves with finger-saves.

ID: 2
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Minor cut
Where: Head/left chin
Treatment on location: Plaster
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No


ID: 3
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Weakness in thumb
Where: Right hand
Treatment on location: Ice pack, bandage
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No


ID: 4
Event: Rapier
Type of injury: Small cut from mask pressed into face
Where: Nose
Treatment on location: Cleaned the wound and treated it with alum
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No


ID: 5
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Hit on hand
Where: Right index finger

Treatment on location: Ice pack 20 minutes

Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 6
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Hit on elbow
Where: Left elbow
Treatment on location: Bandage and ice pack
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 7
Event: Sword & buckler
Type of injury: Large hematoma
Where: Left shin
Treatment on location: Ice pack
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 8
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Cut and swelling
Where: Right hand on finger (not specified in journal)
Treatment on location: Plaster
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Train hand and rest

ID: 9
Event: Not specified in journal
Type of injury: Swelling
Where: Right palm
Treatment on location: Ice pack, bandage, advice from orthopedic specialist
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No
Note: The injury was completely healed the following day

ID: 10
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Cut and swelling
Where: Right hand left ... (intelligible)
Treatment on location: Voltaren gel, plaster. Advice to open and close hand
and use gel to reduce pain
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No



ID: 11
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Cut and hematoma
Where: Right Gluteus maximus, cut to left thigh
Treatment on location: Plaster, sylakonin gel
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No


ID: 12
Event: Sabre
Type of injury: Twisting of knee, luxation of knee cap
Where: Left knee
Treatment on location: Examination and bandaging
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Move until it hurts, if it happens again
go to E.R.


ID: 13
Event: Sabre
Type of injury: Hit over thumb, pain during radial movement
Where: Right thumb base
Treatment on location: Examination, Ice pack, bandage
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Move unless it hurts, check up at
hospital when at home

ID: 14
Event: Wrestling workshop
Type of injury: Knee in head
Where: Head
Treatment on location: Examination and instructions
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 15
Event: Sabre
Type of injury: Blood blister
Where: Right pinkie
Treatment on location: Punctuation and plaster
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No


ID: 16
Event: Workshop
Type of injury: Straining
Where: Left knee
Treatment on location: Ice pack, bandage
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Observation

ID: 17
Event: Sabre
Type of injury: 5 cm cut to head.
Where: Right side of head
Treatment on location: Glued together
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Continued neurologic controls and
observation of bleeding.
Protective gear: Allstar fencing mask. The mask fell off, even though the straps
to the back of the head were intact and attached.

ID: 18
Event: Sabre
Type of injury: Cut
Where: Forehead

Treatment on location: Bandaging

Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 19
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Ankle injury (not specified)
Where: Right foot
Treatment on location: Bandage, ice pack
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Rest

ID: 20
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Possible fracture in pinkie. Cold for seven minutes
Where: Right pinkie
Treatment on location: Ice pack, bandage, several examinations, stabilisation
with tape against the ring finger
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Move unless painful

ID: 21
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Small cut
Where: Right pinkie
Treatment on location: Plaster
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 22
Event: Unknown
Type of injury: Cut
Where: Left thumb, in the crease under the finger
Treatment on location: Cleaning and plaster
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No


ID: 23
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Cut to head, in need of stitches (one stitch received in hospital)
Where: Head
Treatment on location: Bandaging
Sent to hospital: Yes
Restrictions of competition or training: No


ID: 24
Event: Unknown
Type of injury: Tooth injury due to hit
Where: Teeth
Treatment on location: Consultation by doctor
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 25
Event: Unknown
Type of injury: Shoulder injury
Where: Right shoulder
Treatment on location: Ice pack
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: No

ID: 26
Event: Unknown
Type of injury: Hit by sword
Where: Right side of head
Treatment on location: Ice pack, observation, neurological examination. Asked
to check back after an hour (did not return).
Sent to hospital: No
Restrictions of competition or training: Rest, no straining activities

ID: 27
Event: Longsword
Type of injury: Fracture. Doctors baffled at how clean the cut was, no
dislocation. Put in cast so that patient doesnt pull it into the wrong position.
Where: Right hand, middle finger carpal bone, right under the knuckle
Treatment on location: Did not seek medical assistance
Sent to hospital: Hospital when returning home
Restrictions of competition or training: Unknown
Protective gear: AF gloves