Monitoring and Informatics for Exertional Heat Illness Prevention

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Heat illness during practice or competition is a leading cause of death and disability among U.S. high school athletes. In 2012/2013 approximately 4.5 million boys and 3.2 million girls participated in high school sports. There are various types of exertional heat illness (EHI) including heat cramps, heat syncope, heat exhaustion, and exertional heat stroke (EHS) that are sources of concern for both athletes and medical staff. Guidelines for the prevention and management of heat illness support a wide range of prevention strategies. Unfortunately, development of more-aggressive prevention campaigns is hampered by a lack of basic descriptive data on EHI incidence and circumstances. These epidemiologic data can assist public health professionals in the development and distribution of EHI interventions. Proposed is a system that monitors athlete temperature and collects epidemiological data. The system provides team and individualized risk based on many factors including environmental conditions, acclimation history, biometrics, real-time activity intensity and real-time temperature.