School Nurses on the Front Lines of Healthcare: Emergencies Associated With Sport and Physical Activities (Part 2): Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Hypovolemic Shock, and Spinal Cord Injury

Sport participation is an important part of the development, both physically and mentally, of children and adolescents in the United States. Illness and injury associated with sport and physical activities may occur in the school setting. Although most sport-related illness and injury in students are considered minor emergencies, life-threatening illnesses or injuries may occur. It is important for the school nurse to recognize potential life-threatening emergencies associated with sport and physical activity, to initiate stabilization of the student with life-threatening symptoms, and to triage these students to an appropriate level of care (back to the classroom, home with their guardian with follow up at their primary healthcare provider's office, or directly to the closest emergency department via Emergency Medical Services). This article specifically describes the initial assessment and management of three potentially life-threatening conditions associated with sport and physical activity, namely sudden cardiac arrest, hypovolemic shock, and spinal cord injury.

Thomas P. Swaffield et al, School Nurses on the Front Lines of Healthcare: Emergencies Associated With Sport and Physical Activities (Part 2): Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Hypovolemic Shock, and Spinal Cord Injury, NASN School Nurse (37, 3) pp. . Copyright © 2021. DOI: 10.1177/1942602X211046048. Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow our Process for Requesting Permission.