Hospital da Luz ensured the clinical assistance in the 2023 edition of EDP Lisbon Marathon, which took place last October 8. The competition also included the Luso Half-Marathon and the EDP Mini-Marathon, gathering in the whole around 25 thousand athletes, 7 thousand of them foreigners, from 80 countries. The marathoners started in Cascais at 7 a.m. to cover the 42.1 km of the event, with the finish line set up in Praça do Comércio, Lisbon. The participants in the Half-Marathon (21 km) and the Mini-Marathon (8.5 km), started on Ponte Vasco da Gama, with the finish line, respectively, in Praça do Comércio and Parque das Nações, in Lisbon. Among the athletes, were around 120 collaborators from Hospital da Luz, distributed between the three running events. The Hospital da Luz clinical assistance was ensured by around 185 health professionals, between doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and emergency technicians, supported by 30 ambulances,16 motorcycles and 10 cross-country bikes, besides 8 logistical support elements. The athletes were assisted in the main medical centre set up by the finish line and in the six advanced medical stations set up along the track. Doctors, nurses and emergency technicians also carried out an initial screening at the finish line, to those athletes more affected by the effort of the race. In total, 360 participants were assisted in the medical centre, with clinical situations of low severity. There were only 12 transfers to the hospital, for a long-term clinical stabilization and the need to carry out more specific exams. Promoting health and Sports Medicine It’s worth reminding that the partnership in the Lisbon marathons is integrated in a continuing bet of Hospital da Luz in the promotion of health and welfare – through healthy lifestyles, where physical activity and the practice of sports are a fundamental part – and highlights the differentiation in Sports Medicine, as evidenced by the long standing connection with sports clubs, such as SL Benfica, Vitória Futebol Clube, Os Belenenses, Cascais Rugby, Associação Académica de Coimbra, Varzim Sport Clube, Sporting Clube da Covilhã, AD Fundão, SC Beira-Mar, among many others. Hospital da Luz Lisboa, with its new Centre of Sports Medicine, has the capacity to clinical follow any sports practitioner – recreational or professional – throughout his active sports life. The strong investment in premises, equipment and people, is translated in examples such as: A 20-meter running track with sand box; Swimming pools; High-end equipment, such as AlterG – an anti-gravity treadmill used, for instance, in the training of astronauts – and cryosauna, besides a series of biomechanical and biodynamical devices; A multidisciplinary team, with specialists in sports medicine, orthopaedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, cardiology, imaging and general surgery, as well as physiologists, nutritionists, physiotherapists, psychologists, podiatrists, among others, focusing on efficiency and performance, but also on the rehabilitation and fast recovery of athletes.
