Lacrosse Helmet Facemask Removal.

Context: Facemask removal (FMR) is required to access the airway of a catastrophically injured football or ice hockey athlete. However, the best method of caring for the helmeted lacrosse athlete with suspected catastrophic injury remains unclear. Objective: To evaluate the effects of sex and grip strength on the speed and ease of use of various FMR methods across different lacrosse helmet types. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Athletic training laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Fourteen athletic trainers (7 men, 7 women). Intervention(s): Removal method (cordless screwdriver [CSD], Face Mask Extractor 2 [FMX], pruner, Trainer's Angel [TA]), helmet type (Cascade CPX, Cascade Pro7, Riddell Revolution, Brine Triumph, Warrior Venom), and sex. Main Outcome Measure(s): Facemask removal time and participant-reported ease of use of the removal method (6-point Likert scale). Results: We found a 2-way interaction for removal method and sex only for the ease-of-use scores (F 3,246 = 4.67, P= .01). A main effect for removal method for time (F 3,2oo = 19-41, P < .001) and ease of use (F 3,20o = 53.78, P < .001) was seen. The fastest times (32.32 ± 11.70 seconds) and highest ease-of-use scores (4.94 ± 0.30) were recorded for the CSD. We noted a main effect for helmet type only for time (F 4,20o = 5.34, P < .001), with the fastest removal times (72.75 ± 74.67 seconds) recorded for the CPX. We discovered a main effect for sex only for time (F 1,200 =17.57, P< .001), with slower times recorded for women (115.51 ± 110.80 seconds) than men (75.71 ± 83.87 seconds). We found correlations between FMR time and grip strength only when using the FMX (r=-0.40, P=.001), pruner (r = -0.26, P= .04), and TA (r=-0.26, P= .047). Conclusions: Based on our results, FMR of lacrosse helmets should be attempted with a CSD. We recommend carrying a pruner as a backup cutting tool in case the CSD fails, practicing FMR regularly, and inspecting helmets for faulty hardware to reduce the chance of CSD failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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