Extracorporeal life support programme for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during competitive sport events: the experience of the Volleyball Men's World Championship Final Six in Turin (Italy)

The high incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest refractory to standard resuscitation protocols, despite precompetitive screening, demonstrated the need for a prehospital team to provide an effective system for life support and resuscitation at the Volleyball Men's World Championship. The evolution of mechanical circulatory support suggests that current advanced cardiovascular life support protocols no longer represent the highest standard of care at competitive sporting events with large spectator numbers. Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) improves resuscitation strategies and offers a rescue therapy for refractory cardiac arrest that can no longer be ignored. We present our operational experience of an out-of-hospital ECLS cardiopulmonary resuscitation team at an international sporting event.