First Aid responders

[JimArmstrong1]

Perhaps someone can help me with this. I was at my son,s cross country running event yesterday and one of the runners collapsed at the finish line. He ran 5 kilometers in a very fast time, and when he finished he passed out. There were first aid people there, St. John Ambulance who treated the boy. It turns out he had only eaten 1 egg throughout the day. They put him on oxygen , took his blood pressure and heart beat and all were somewhat normal. Is it possible that his blood sugar was way too low,. Why wouldn't they test him for that? I thought about asking the people who were looking after him, but they are the professionals. The boy is not diabetic, but can someone hypo if there are not ??? please let me know. thanks Jim

 

[mo1905]

Probably just exhaustion Jim. The lack of food may have played a part but could have also been dehydration as well. Could be many things to be honest but I would guess he just gave the run 100% and had nothing left at the end.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[hanadr]

dehydration seems like the most sensible answer. If his vital signs were good, they tned not to look any furher for a cause.
Hana

 

[noblehead]

Perhaps someone can help me with this. I was at my son,s cross country running event yesterday and one of the runners collapsed at the finish line. He ran 5 kilometers in a very fast time, and when he finished he passed out. There were first aid people there, St. John Ambulance who treated the boy. It turns out he had only eaten 1 egg throughout the day. They put him on oxygen , took his blood pressure and heart beat and all were somewhat normal. Is it possible that his blood sugar was way too low,. Why wouldn't they test him for that? I thought about asking the people who were looking after him, but they are the professionals. The boy is not diabetic, but can someone hypo if there are not ??? please let me know. thanks Jim

Could well be that his bg was too low, my oldest child would feel faint when we'd walk into town as an infant, once he had something to eat he was fine, gp said it was more than likely low bg.

The first-aid guys probably wouldn't have the equipment to test his bg anyways, if the boy didn't recover then an ambulance would be called and the paramedics would test his bg as a matter of routine.

 

[ElyDave]

He shouldn't be dehydrated after 5k.

Most likely just a temporary exhaustion, if he was giving his all in the race, maxing his heart rate, that takes quite a bit out of you and from personal experience, he could well have been going into some oxygen debt and building up some serious lactic acid byproducts in his body and quite a bit of heat. Shouldn't have needed much more than the treatment given.

There are lots of research papers on this subject and the description given does not bother me at all.

I do have a friend who runs ultra's and frequently hypos afterwards as she's trying to get carbs back into her system.

 

[phoenix]

An interesting question, it happens quite frequently in events of all different lengths.
Most sources I found seem to say that a major reason for a collapse at the finish of a race is 'exercise associated postural hypotension'.

nearly two thirds of collapse at the finish line are
due to EAC and postural hypotension

http://www.med.nyu.edu/pmr/residency/re ... linics.pdf

It seems to be because the legs suddenly stop pumping blood but still have an increased capacity in the veins from the exertion. Blood doesn't get to the brain quickly enough causing light headedess, nausea and sometimes passing out

symptoms persist until the blood flow to the brain is restored by an increase in blood pressure. Usually this occurs when the athlete falls to the ground and lies flat, thereby relocating a large volume of blood from the legs (and intestine) back to the center of the body. This sudden return of blood to the heart rapidly improves heart function and restores blood pressure to the appropriate postexercise value

Dehydration is more likely to cause a problem during the race, not on the completion of it when exertion has stopped and is unlikely in a 5k race. (and there are more cases of too much rather than not enough water in distance races )

http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/e ... s-collapse
There are other reasons mentioned in the first paper including hypoglycaemia but that seems unlikely at 5km. (I've gone hypo at less than that but I inject insulin and I've not come near to passing out)
There are other causes mentioned in the paper and all much rarer. I have to admit that,though it is probably nothing serious, if it were my child I would mention it to the GP. (just to be on the safe side)