Introduction: Cheerleading is a sport which began to be developed in Slovenia at the end of the 20th century, and as early as in the 19th century in the United States of America. It is made up of elements of gymnastics and acrobatics, and jumps, tosses, the building of pyramids, lifts and dance. Cheerleading is a sport that may result in injuries due to unfinished or incorrectly performed gymnastic and acrobatic elements at heights or when building pyramids. When injuries occur, the cheerleaders and coaches must take the right actions and give appropriate first aid. Purpose: The purpose of the bachelor thesis was to determine the knowledge of first aid among coaches and cheerleaders regarding the most common cheerleading injuries. To establish which injuries the cheerleaders and cheerleading coaches have already had or which injuries they have come across during training; how well they knew the right first aid measures for the given theoretical examples; and how interested they were in gaining additional knowledge of first aid. Work methods: A descriptive work method was used; data was collected using an anonymous online questionnaire, which had been sent by email to coaches and cheerleaders over 18. Results: 45 coaches and cheerleaders took part in the survey. The acquired data on injuries shows that most injuries occur during training. The most common injuries during training, competition and at performances are contusions and wounds (91%), ankle injuries (69%) and knee injuries (67%). The respondents have demonstrated good knowledge of first aid. They have poorer knowledge of first aid in the case of head injuries and spine injuries Discussion and conclusion: Most of the cheerleading coaches and cheerleaders have already had or have come across injuries during their career. A high percentage of coaches and cheerleaders (93%) want to attend additional training. Knowledge of first aid is very important, as it would enable them to more easily identify the types of injuries and take appropriate actions, thus reducing the consequences and contributing to a faster return to sport.
|