2018, Vol. 5, Issue 5, Part B

Background: A sport’s academy is a specialized training field for sport activities. Traumatic injury is a term which refers to physical injuries of sudden onset and severity, which requires immediate medical attention.

Aims and Objectives: To assess the availability, accessibility and knowledge of coaches to medical and dental services in sports academies of Hyderabad city.

Methodology: A cross sectional survey was conducted on coaches of sports academies in Hyderabad city, using a pretested and self-structured questionnaire given to coaches and the collected data was subjected to statistical analysis.

Results: A total of 101 coaches participated from 21 types of sports in various academies. About 51.1% of coaches encountered traumatic injuries frequently in athletes. Only 17.8% of sports academies had a physician and only 2% had appointed a dentist at sports academy. 89.1% of coaches told they had to travel a distance of less than 5kms to hospital. 75% of the coaches had received training in first aid and management of injuries. 59.4% of the coaches had knowledge in Basic Life Support. Only 15.8% of coaches promoted the use of mouth guards by athletes.

Conclusion: It was found that the sports academies were having insufficient medical and dental care services and there is a need for increasing the healthcare facilities at sports coaching academies of Hyderabad. Coaches had good knowledge in managing the injuries but need periodic training for performing at emergencies.