Implementing automated external defibrillators into community sports clubs/facilities: a cross-sectional survey of community club member preparedness for medical emergencies.

OBJECTIVE: There is a growing focus on ensuring the availability of automated external defibrillators (AED) in sport settings to assist in preventing sudden cardiac death. For the AED to be most effective, understanding how best to integrate it with wider risk management and emergency action plans (EAP) is needed. The aim of this survey was to identify sports club/facility member knowledge of AED use and club EAPs, 6 months following participation in a government-funded AED provision and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training programme. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of community sports clubs and facilities in Victoria, Australia. Included participants were members of sports club/facilities that had been provided with an AED and basic first aid training as part of a government programme to increase access to, and awareness of, AEDs. A descriptive analysis of availability of EAPs and AEDs, together with practical scenarios on AED use and maintenance, is presented. RESULTS: From 191 respondents, more than half (56%) had no previous training in AED use. Knowledge on availability of an EAP at the club/facility was varied: 53% said yes and knew where it was located, while 41% did not have, or did not know if they had, an EAP. Responses to clinical scenarios for use of AED were mostly accurate, with the exception of being unsure how to respond when 'a participant falls to the ground and is making shaking movements.' CONCLUSIONS: While there were positive outcomes from this programme, such as half of the respondents being newly trained in emergency first aid response, further improvements are required to assist members with embedding their AED into their club/facility EAP and practices.

Contact-Related Strain of Quadratus Femoris, Obturator Externus, and Inferior Gemellus in an Australian Football Player: A Case Report.

CONTEXT: Muscle injuries of the hip stabilizers are considered rare in sport. OBJECTIVE: This report presents a previously unreported case of a contact injury resulting in acute strain of quadratus femoris, obturator externus, and inferior gemellus in an amateur Australian rules football player. DESIGN: Level 4-case report. CASE PRESENTATION: A player was tackled ipsilateral to the injured leg, while in hip flexion in a lunged position. The case describes the diagnostic process, initial management, and return to play for this athlete. RESULTS: Following rehabilitation, the player was able to return to sport at 8 weeks without ongoing issues. CONCLUSIONS: A literature search for sports-related contact injuries to either muscle returned only one result. All other documented cases of injury to these muscle groups are confined to noncontact mechanisms or delayed presentations. Despite conventional teaching, the action of the deep external rotators of the hip appears to be positionally dependent. Knowledge of this type of injury and mechanism may be useful for future clinical reasoning and differential diagnosis in patients with this type of presentation.

Muscle-damaging exercise increases heat strain during subsequent exercise heat stress.

PURPOSE: It remains unclear whether exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) increases heat strain during subsequent exercise heat stress, which in turn may increase the risk of exertional heat illness. We examined heat strain during exercise heat stress 30 min after EIMD to coincide with increases in circulating pyrogens (e.g., interleukin-6 [IL-6]) and 24 h after EIMD to coincide with the delayed muscle inflammatory response when a higher rate of metabolic energy expenditure (M˙) and thus decreased economy might also increase heat strain. METHODS: Thirteen non-heat-acclimated males (mean ± SD, age = 20 ± 2 yr) performed exercise heat stress tests (running for 40 min at 65% V˙O2max in 33°C, 50% humidity) 30 min (HS1) and 24 h (HS2) after treatment, involving running for 60 min at 65% V˙O2max on either -10% gradient (EIMD) or +1% gradient (CON) in a crossover design. Rectal (Tre) and skin (Tsk) temperature, local sweating rate, and M˙ were measured throughout HS tests. RESULTS: Compared with CON, EIMD evoked higher circulating IL-6 pre-HS1 (P < 0.01) and greater plasma creatine kinase and muscle soreness pre-HS2 (P < 0.01). The ΔTre was greater after EIMD than CON during HS1 (0.35°C, 95% confidence interval = 0.11°C-0.58°C, P < 0.01) and HS2 (0.17°C, 95% confidence interval = 0.07°C-0.28°C, P < 0.01). M˙ was higher on EIMD throughout HS1 and HS2 (P < 0.001). Thermoeffector responses (Tsk, sweating rate) were not altered by EIMD. Thermal sensation and RPE were higher on EIMD after 25 min during HS1 (P < 0.05). The final Tre during HS1 correlated with the pre-HS1 circulating IL-6 concentration (r = 0.67). CONCLUSIONS: Heat strain was increased during endurance exercise in the heat conducted 30 min after and, to a much lesser extent, 24 h after muscle-damaging exercise. These data indicate that EIMD is a likely risk factor for exertional heat illness particularly during exercise heat stress when behavioral thermoregulation cues are ignored.