Loading…

Prevention of cold injuries during exercise

It is the position of the American College of Sports Medicine that exercise can be performed safely in most cold-weather environments without incurring cold-weather injuries. The key to prevention is use of a comprehensive risk management strategy that: a) identifies/assesses the cold hazard; b) ide...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medicine and science in sports and exercise 2006-11, Vol.38 (11), p.2012-2029
Main Authors: Castellani, John W., Young, Andrew J., Ducharme, Michel B., Giesbrecht, Gordon G., Glickman, Ellen, Sallis, Robert E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It is the position of the American College of Sports Medicine that exercise can be performed safely in most cold-weather environments without incurring cold-weather injuries. The key to prevention is use of a comprehensive risk management strategy that: a) identifies/assesses the cold hazard; b) identifies/assesses contributing factors for cold-weather injuries; c) develops controls to mitigate cold stress/strain; d) implements controls into formal plans; and e) utilizes administrative oversight to ensure controls are enforced or modified. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that: 1) coaches/athletes/medical personnel know the signs/symptoms and risk factors for hypothermia, frostbite, and nonfreezing cold injuries, identify individuals susceptible to cold injuries, and have the latest up-to-date information about current and future weather conditions before conducting training sessions or competitions; 2) cold-weather clothing be chosen based on each individual's requirements and that standardized clothing ensembles not be mandated for entire groups; 3) the wind-chill temperature index be used to estimate the relative risk of frostbite and that heightened surveillance of exercisers be used at wind-chill temperatures below --27 degree C (-18 degree F); and 4) individuals with asthma and cardiovascular disease can exercise in cold environments, but should be monitored closely.
ISSN:0195-9131
1530-0315
DOI:10.1249/01.mss.0000241641.75101.64