New UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme appointment for the FSGC

Last Friday and Saturday, at the Hotel Villa Pamphili in Rome, a delegation representing the FSGC’s sports medicine department took part in the Cascading for Italy and San Marino. A regular event within the framework of the UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme (FDEP), its objectives were reiterated at the opening session by Paolo Zeppilli and Loїc Noirat, respectively Head of the Medical Area of the FIGC and member of the UEFA Medical Committee. The introduction to the two days of work was given by Luca Labianca, orthopaedic specialist and sports physician, who serves as FIGC’s UEFA FDEP coordinator. Among the speakers was Dr Simone Grana, FSGC Vice-President, who spoke on Saturday 11 May on the topic of management of pelvic trauma. Representing the Sammarinese medical sector were also Anna Ferri, Salvatore Monaldini and Roberto Venturini. Their Italian counterparts Costabile and Santoriello were the first to address the medical assembly, starting from an overview of football injuries and then moving on to the sensitive topic of assessment and management of collapse and cardiac arrest. Reporting and prevention concerning sudden cardiac death in sport were extensively covered in Santoriello’s in-depth presentation. Closing the series of talks on the first day were Ferretti and Mazza, who focused on upper and lower limb injuries, and Carcangiu, who dedicated a specific focus to women’s football. Thanks to cooperation with the Fondazione Giorgio Castelli, practical scenarios and classroom sessions on BLS-D were then organised, with hands-on tests carried out the following day. Saturday’s programme was opened by Maria Beatrice Manca, who dealt with invasive airway management. Specifically, she offered an in-depth look at the use of oropharyngeal and nasal airways and laryngeal masks, as well as the possible need for intervention by intubation, cricothyrotomy and tracheotomy. These aspects were then revisited in subsequent working groups which, in rotation, involved all participants in scenarios using mannequins and role players. In addition to invasive airway management, the use of the spinal board, cervical collar and wound management were also the subject of practical simulations. After a short break, the focus shifted to discussion of spinal trauma, including the cervical spine and facial area – obviously including cases of concussion. Responsible for this in-depth session was Anne Nördstrom, who supervised the ensuing practical exercises for the assessment of concussion cases together with Labianca. In the afternoon, there was room for practical tests on life-saving manoeuvres in situations of cardiac arrest (BLS-D), before moving into detail on hand and foot injuries, examined by Matteo Guzzini. The detailed presentation by Simone Grana on the management of pelvic trauma then brought to a close the fruitful two-day UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme event held in Rome.

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