Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
29239
Funders
Funding information available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000536
Abstract
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.
DOI
10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000536
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Comments
Fortington, L. V., West, L., Morgan, D., & Finch, C. F. (2019). Implementing automated external defibrillators into community sports clubs/facilities: A cross-sectional survey of community club member preparedness for medical emergencies. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 5, Article e000536. Available here