In a study of 187 top sports arenas in ten European countries, used by 190 elite soccer clubs, more than a quarter did not have automated external defibrillators on site and even more did not have medical action plans or basic or advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training programmes. During the period that was studied, the 2005-6 season, no players or officials suffered a heart attack, but there were 77 heart attacks among the spectators (an estimated incidence of about one in 589,000 spectators).
This study was conducted by the
Sports Cardiology Section of the European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR)
Prof Mats Borjesson, chairperson of the EACPR Sports Cardiology section, said: “The idea for this study came from our clinical experiences working as club doctors where it appeared to us that the level of cardiovascular care available at sports arenas was varying, unknown and had not been studied specifically in Europe.”
The researchers distributed a 12-question survey via members of the EACPR Sports Cardiology section who were from the ten countries participating in the study.
The survey asked about the average numbers of spectators in the clubs’ arenas during one full season, the existence of written medical action plans, the number of emergency personnel present, the availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the arena, the average distance in time and kilometres to the nearest hospital, the level of training of emergency staff and training programmes offered to them, and the number of heart attacks registered during the season.
Prof Borjesson added: “Our study shows that many of these sports arenas are not adequately prepared to deal effectively with heart attacks among the spectators. We believe that formal recommendations are needed urgently to improve safety for spectators and players. At the highest levels of sport, recommendations should be mandatory.