The first aid policies and practices of community sports clubs in northern Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Issue addressed: This paper describes and compares the first aid policies and practices of community sports clubs in northern Sydney, Australia. Methods: A piloted and validated questionnaire was used to assess the first aid policies and practices of 163 community netball, rugby league, rugby union, and soccer clubs. Response rate was 85%. Scales were developed to compare the adoption of first aid policies (range 0-14) and practices (range 0-32) across sports. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated to compare scores across sports. Results: The mean policy scores (95% Cl) were: netball 6.4 (5.9-7.0); rugby league 7.0 (6.0-8.0); rugby union 6.2 (5.5-6.9); soccer 3.9 (3.34.5). The mean practice scores were: netball 24.4 (23.2-25.6); rugby league 26.2 (24.3-28.1); rugby union 23.0 (21.1-24.9); soccer 17.6 (16.3-18.9). Soccer clubs achieved significantly lower mean policy (p 50% of all clubs reported not having a policy were: the attendance of qualified first aid providers at training (88%), infectious disease control (77%), pre-participation screening (72%), and head injury management (51%). Conclusions: There is room for improvement in the first aid policies and practices of community sports clubs, particularly soccer clubs, in northern Sydney. The lack of policies on the management of head injuries, preparticipation screening and infectious disease control and the poor attendance of qualified first aid providers at training should be addressed. (author abstract)