“Cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers are essential for first aid in the event of cardiac arrest. We need to prepare people to intervene in the correct way. The objective of the defibrillated Sports First Aid (PSS-D) project of the Italian Sports Medicine Federation (FMSI) is to train the so-called sports operators to intervene in the best way”, says Paolo Marzollo, FMSI PSS-D Course Coordinator. “As international guidelines also insist – he continues – it is essential that people know how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation perfectly, in which the defibrillator plays an important, but not essential, role. By now it is known that the mere use of the defibrillator is almost useless, while cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers must always be used”.
In this regard, “all sportsmen and women still have Eriksen’s episode in their eyes during last year’s European Football Championships – recalls Marzollo. We saw the player as he ran after the ball collapse to the ground and remain motionless. The initial intervention of the team doctors and his teammates was rather empirical. But when, after less than a minute, the camp’s resuscitation team intervened, the chain of survival worked very well: in fact, they started the cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers, i.e. the external cardiac massage and, finally, they applied the defibrillator. Shortly after, the player was carried off the pitch on a stretcher, but he had recovered. We then saw, later, how the matter was resolved”. Eriksen, in fact, participated in this year’s World Cup with his national team.
“The Eriksen episode – recalls the specialist – reminds us that cardiocirculatory arrest is present even in sport. A study carried out in the Lombardy region revealed, in 4 years, 113 cardiac arrests in a population ranging from the very young to the elderly: average age 50 years. Survival in these 113 cases was 88% and about 70 of these people were revived by bystanders. This is a sign that there is already a presence on the spot” to intervene in the heart crisis.
These results are due to the introduction of the “DM 2011 – after the unfortunate episode of Morosini – then reaffirmed in 2013 with the famous Balduzzi Decree, which in article 5 – adds Marzollo – indicates that it is necessary that sports facilities, like other environments, are equipped with a semi-automatic defibrillator, also pointing out that CONI, in its autonomy, adopts the FMSI PSS-D protocol. Furthermore, sportsmen are better protected because, before being able to practice physical activity, they are regularly subjected to medical-sports examinations for certification of fitness, while in civil society checks are carried out randomly or only because they show symptoms”.
The number of cardiac arrests in the context of sport “is, moreover, limited compared to that affecting civil society. However, this is not the case for traumatic episodes which are instead very frequent, due – especially in recent times – also to the preparation of the athletes – Marzollo underlines – in which training leads to a greater increase in muscle mass. A collision between two players, running, can have an impact similar to that of a collision at 50 kilometers per hour with all the consequences. In preparing the PSS-D lessons, the Sports Medicine Federation has included an Organizational Model for the Management of Health Emergencies in Sport (MOGESS) from the very first chapters, also for major traumas: cranial, spinal, thoracic and abdominal”.
Continuous head trauma “can cause irreversible brain damage – recalls the specialist – which can lead to Parkinson’s, as in the case of Cassius Clay, or dementia, as in Bobby Charlton and other players of the time”. Another emergency is the trauma of the spinal rachis which, “if not treated correctly and immediately, can lead to very serious neurological damage, up to complete paralysis. A US study indicated that 25% of neurological damage is mainly caused by incorrect health interventions. The FMSI PSS-D – concludes Marzollo – also has the task of illustrating, teaching and putting all these studies to good use in order to be able to treat serious traumas correctly”.
