The Takashima City Board of Education in Shiga Prefecture asked Osaka College of Medical and Welfare for volunteers for the aid stations for the 2015 Biwako Takashima Kuri Marathon held on October 18. A total of 12 students from the Medical Trainer Club took part as staff members for the race, which was sponsored by the Takashima City Board of Education. The Medical Trainer Club is comprised of students in the Physical Therapist Department who have joined the club as part of their classes in the Sports Therapy Course.

 

The students joined a workshop the day before the race at the Biwako Club, the training retreat for the Jikei Group of Colleges, to ensure that everything would go smoothly at the aid stations during the event.

 

During the first part of the workshop, students attended a lecture by Mr. Kikuchi, club advisor for the Physical Therapist Department. The lecture focused on the theory behind the types of injuries common among marathon runners, the various types of support and tools, as well as first aid techniques. The students were able to review and confirm what they had already learned in their lessons at school.

 

The second part of the workshop was devoted to practical hands-on training after dinner. Everyone looked quite serious and worked very hard as they practiced skills such as taping as well as first aids techniques including dealing with lost toenails. Even at well past ten, there was no sign that they students would stop their practice, so Mr. Kikuchi announced that the practice session was now over. Even so, some students continued practicing after returning to their rooms.

 

Swarms of runners converged on the grounds in the early morning of the day of the race. A total of 2,762 runners were set to participate in one of 3 events—a 2 km race, a quarter marathon, or a half marathon. Approximately half of the runners had come from outside Shiga Prefecture, and Makino Station, the closest JR Kosei Line station, was congested with participants from the early morning.

 

Students from the Medical Trainer Club manned aid stations situated in 5 locations along the routes, providing water to runners as well as first aid to runners who felt unwell or suffered injuries. With the temperature reaching 26℃ in Takashima City, the race became a grueling event for the participants. Runners with heatstroke-like symptoms, such as nausea and unsteadiness on their feet, dropped out of the race one after another, keeping the students busy providing assistance and first aid. The students wrote down the symptoms of the runners they cared for along with the specific aid provided on Medical Support Record Sheets, which will be used in future activities.

 

Mr. Kikuchi and the student volunteers were at their busiest as the runners crossed over the finish line.
The hot weather had taken a physical toll on many of the runners, and the student volunteers worked hard to provide treatment to runners with a wide range of complaints such as muscle cramps and nausea. The runner’s receiving first-aid treatment presented with a variety of complaints including 5 cases of minor injuries such as runner’s knee, Achilles tendonitis, blisters; 2 serious cases of hyponatremia, 1 of which required evacuation by ambulance; and 6 cases of muscle cramps, vomiting, or respiratory difficulties; for a total of 13 cases altogether. In the space of only of few hours, the students coordinated with doctors and nurses and provided treatment for many runners.

 

The marathon differed from other sports events in which the medical trainer department has provided care in the past (such as basketball, handball, or soccer events) in that the students were presented with internal medicine-related conditions which included serious medical conditions such as heat stroke in addition to orthopedic-related injuries and conditions. This aid station volunteer activity allowed students to witness firsthand emergency medicine and gave them invaluable experience on making appropriate decisions and providing appropriate care quickly.

 

We hope that this experience will become an asset for the students that they can make use of in the future. Event sponsor Takashima City Board of Education offered words of thanks and appreciation saying, “You all did a wonderful job! We hope you will help out next year as well.” The board then extended an additional offer. “We have a skiing competition before then during the winter, and we would like to ask you to help there as well.”

 

　
Osaka College of Medical and Welfare will continue to make every effort to contribute the community through these kinds of course and club activities.