2019 Volume 22 Issue 4 Pages 613-620
In recent years, various marathon-length road races large and small have been happening almost every week. Medical and first aid structures suitable for events on this scale have been requested, but the organizers have not taken on the policies that they should. This is why we have created policies that cover the medical and first aid structures these events need with the cooperation of doctors and fire departments, for use by organizers as references. We made these materials by consulting existing domestic and international manuals, getting the opinions of people experienced in running medical and first aid structures, and bringing together the knowledge of people who have observed marathons, and a survey of the literature on the topic. The policies we made set out concrete recommended numbers of first aid staff and stations, recommended equipment, as well as standards and specifications for the above.
Ensuring that adequate medical and first aid structures are in place for marathons is not only a matter for organizers, but also relies on the awareness of best practices on the part of fire departments and medical institutions. These policies also include a system for scoring medical and first aid structures, so would allow events across the country to be compared laterally, by adopting a unified set of standards.
