title: Cardiovascular emergency preparedness in recreation facilities at major US universities: college fitness center emergency readiness.
abstract: Recent American Heart Association/American College of Sports Medicine (AHA/ACSM) guidelines advocate preparticipation screening, planning, and rehearsal for emergencies and automated external defibrillators in all health/fitness facilities. The authors evaluated adherence to these recommendations at 158 recreational service departments in major US universities (51% response rate for 313 institutions queried). Many made their facilities available to unaffiliated residents, with 39% offering programs for those with special medical conditions. Only 18% performed universal preparticipation screening. Twenty-seven percent reported having 1 or more exercise-related instances of cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death within the past 5 years. Seventy-three percent had an automated external defibrillator, but only 6% reported using it in an emergency. Almost all had written emergency plans, but only 50% posted their plans, and only 27% performed the recommended quarterly emergency drills. The authors' findings suggest low awareness of and adherence to the AHA/ACSM recommendations for identifying individuals at risk for exercise-related cardiovascular complications and for handling such emergencies in university-based fitness facilities. (
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nurtition, Food and Exercise, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0351, USA. wgherb@vt.edu
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Herbert
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Herbert
authors.forename: Kyle J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: McInnis
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ribisl
authors.forename: Barry A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Callahan
authors.forename: Aaron W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Hood
mesh_terms: D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control*; D047548:Defibrillators / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D013177:Sports; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities