Emergency Physicians' Role and Emergency Plans and Procedures.

As the cause of sudden and unexpected death during sports training and competition, a strong relation with heart disease has been speculated. A screening test is effective for the prevention of sudden and unexpected death, but it is extremely difficult to check all competitive or recreational players. In addition, for commotio cordis(instantaneous cardiac arrest that is produced by non-penetrating chest trauma without structural damage to the chest wall or heart)occurring in the young sportsman/woman who does not have heart disease, a screening test is not effective. To shed light on these problems, we would like to emphasize that bystander CPR and early defibrillation are important as a policy to decrease sudden and unexpected death during sports training and competition. Early defibrillation is also indispensable for the treatment of ventricular fibrillation that is a particularly lethal arrhythmia. Having AED(automated external defibrillator)in the field could lead to the reduction of sudden and unexpected death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]