A COMPARISON OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND MEDICAL COVERAGE BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND CLUB SPORT COACHES

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated that a large population of high-school aged athletes participate on club sport teams. Studies have documented emergency preparedness and medical coverage standards in the high school athletic setting. However, similar examinations do not exist for youth club sport teams. PURPOSE: To determine if differences in emergency preparedness and medical coverage exist between high school team coaches and high school-aged club team coaches. A secondary purpose was to compare emergency training characteristics between high school and club coaches. METHODS: A total of 769 coaches (female N=266, 34.6%, age: 41.0±11.5 years) completed an anonymous online questionnaire regarding their emergency preparedness and training. Coaches from 3 sports were surveyed (basketball N=290, volleyball N=256, soccer N=223). The questionnaire consisted of 1) demographics and information regarding the teams that the respondent coaches, 2) emergency preparedness factors such as automated external defibrillator (AED) availability, emergency action plan (EAP) awareness, and medical coverage, and 3) emergency care training requirements (CPR, AED, first aid). Chi-square tests were used to compare response frequencies to various emergency preparedness questions between high school and club coaches. RESULTS: Overall, 64.6% (N=497) respondents were coaches of a high school team, and 35.4% (N=272) were coaches of a club team with high school-aged athletes. High school coaches were more likely than club coaches to be aware of the EAP for their practice venue (83.9% vs. 54.4%, p