Citation

De Oliveira J, Lorenzo-Martínez M, Barcala-Furelos R, Alonso-Calvete A, Carracedo-Rodríguez E, Moreira-Pinto J, Queiroga AC. J. Phys. Educ. Sport 2023; 22(10): 2849-2857.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, University of Pitesti)

DOI

10.7752/jpes.2022.11361

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Surfing instructors can play an important role both in preventing sport related injuries and as first responders in water emergencies events. Even though Portugal is a predominantly oceanic country, with many people enrolling in water sports activities, we still don't have a clear insight of the knowledge and educational practices of surfing instructors concerning both injury prevention and first response actions. This study aimed to analyze the educational practices on prevention of surf-related injuries of Portuguese surfing instructors and their knowledge and experience acting as first responders in the sea. A cross-sectional study was designed, using an online survey distributed by all surfing schools registered at Portuguese Surfing Federation to their instructors. The survey included a brief demographic characterization, questions regarding teaching practices about prevention of surfing-related injuries and knowledge/experience acting as first responders at the sea. Data was collected anonymously using Google Forms. A total of 102 instructors participated in the study. The analysis of the survey responses showed that 93.2% of surfing instructors are aware of the importance of prevention habits for teaching but skip some major preventive measures when teaching novice surfers. Nevertheless, the instructors with more than 15 years of experience provide more feedback on prevention habits during classes than instructors with less experience (p=0.019). When looking at self-perceptions of own competence to act in a drowning event, the instructors who have attended a basic life support course asserted to be more competent than those who never attended a course (p<0.05). These findings suggest that it would be very positive that all surfing schools followed the same protocol, giving due importance to prevention measures. Moreover, surfing instructors can play an important role in first response to drowning events but might have some training flaws that should be considered as part of a Water Safety National Strategy.

Language: en