'Heart risk' at football stadiums

[davieG]

Heart risk' at football stadiums

Football grounds across Europe were surveyed

Too many football grounds in Europe do not have the right equipment and plans to save the lives of fans who have heart attacks, a study has found.

The poll of 187 stadiums found over a quarter did not have defibrillators and many did not have emergency plans.

The Sweden-led study, carried out by a group of club doctors, stressed more had to be done as it was not always easy to get ill fans to hospital.

Researchers said there should be mandatory rules covering the issue.

At the moment, it is simply considered good practice to have defibrillators at sports grounds.

But in recent years many governments - including the authorities in the UK - have been doing more to increase the availability of the life-saving equipment in public spaces.

Defibrillators work by delivering a controlled electric shock through the chest wall to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat.

Emotional

Professor Mats Borjesson, the official medic for Swedish club GAIS and a member of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, said every ground should have access to a supply of the machines.

"It is known that viewing and being emotionally engaged in a soccer game increases the likelihood of people suffering a heart attack so we think this should be a formal requirement."

He also warned facilities at sporting arenas elsewhere in the world may be even worse.

"As football is the biggest and best resourced sport in Europe, the situation may be even worse elsewhere."

Early access to a defibrillator increases the chance of survivalso it's reassuring to know that so many stadiums in England had one

Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation

And he said it was important to have the proper procedures and planning in place too.

But only 64% had a written medical action plan, covering issues such as medical staffing and communications with hospital.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, gathered data from 10 countries, including England, France and Spain.

It did not name the grounds that took part, although the researchers said most of them were from the top divisions, and over the previous season there had been 77 heart attacks - one for every 589,000 spectators at these stadiums.

The 37 English grounds that were included were among the better performers, the study showed.

Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said it was important the issue was being highlighted.

"Early access to a defibrillator increases the chance of survival so it's reassuring to know that so many stadiums in England had one."

[MPH]

Heart risk' at football stadiums

Football grounds across Europe were surveyed

Too many football grounds in Europe do not have the right equipment and plans to save the lives of fans who have heart attacks, a study has found.

The poll of 187 stadiums found over a quarter did not have defibrillators and many did not have emergency plans.

The Sweden-led study, carried out by a group of club doctors, stressed more had to be done as it was not always easy to get ill fans to hospital.

Researchers said there should be mandatory rules covering the issue.

At the moment, it is simply considered good practice to have defibrillators at sports grounds.

But in recent years many governments - including the authorities in the UK - have been doing more to increase the availability of the life-saving equipment in public spaces.

Defibrillators work by delivering a controlled electric shock through the chest wall to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat.

Emotional

Professor Mats Borjesson, the official medic for Swedish club GAIS and a member of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, said every ground should have access to a supply of the machines.

"It is known that viewing and being emotionally engaged in a soccer game increases the likelihood of people suffering a heart attack so we think this should be a formal requirement."

He also warned facilities at sporting arenas elsewhere in the world may be even worse.

"As football is the biggest and best resourced sport in Europe, the situation may be even worse elsewhere."

Early access to a defibrillator increases the chance of survivalso it's reassuring to know that so many stadiums in England had one

Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation

And he said it was important to have the proper procedures and planning in place too.

But only 64% had a written medical action plan, covering issues such as medical staffing and communications with hospital.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, gathered data from 10 countries, including England, France and Spain.

It did not name the grounds that took part, although the researchers said most of them were from the top divisions, and over the previous season there had been 77 heart attacks - one for every 589,000 spectators at these stadiums.

The 37 English grounds that were included were among the better performers, the study showed.

Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said it was important the issue was being highlighted.

"Early access to a defibrillator increases the chance of survival so it's reassuring to know that so many stadiums in England had one."

I worked with the consultant who covers all the city games. Unfortunately the chap who had a heart atack and died last season was right at the back of the stadium and was already dead by the time he could get to him...

[Guest]

Yes we are

[Daggers]

Didn't a chap cop it from a coronary in our last Championship season?

[Guest]

Didn't a chap cop it from a coronary in our last Championship season?

I worked with the consultant who covers all the city games. Unfortunately the chap who had a heart atack and died last season was right at the back of the stadium and was already dead by the time he could get to him...

[Daggers]

[Bluefoxtim]

Sorry, but isn't this just a pointless 'study'? A heart attack could happen at any time and in any situation, as could any other illness or accident.

"Too many high rise window cleaners do not have the means to quick emergency treatment" ....

[Alexikokopops]

Sorry, but isn't this just a pointless 'study'? A heart attack could happen at any time and in any situation, as could any other illness or accident.

"Too many high rise window cleaners do not have the means to quick emergency treatment" ....

Well not really, because early attention to a heart attack can really increase a victim's chance of survival. It's not that unreasonable to expect a public venue (whether sports, cinema, theatre etc.) to have reasonable first aid facilities, and I'd expect a defibrillator to be included in that.

[Daggers]

Well not really, because early attention to a heart attack can really increase a victim's chance of survival. It's not that unreasonable to expect a public venue (whether sports, cinema, theatre etc.) to have reasonable first aid facilities, and I'd expect a defibrillator to be included in that.

Being able to buy a cup of tea or a pie without a seven hour wait or having to order from a utter pinhead would reduce heart attack risks too.

[Thracian]

Sorry, but isn't this just a pointless 'study'? A heart attack could happen at any time and in any situation, as could any other illness or accident.

"Too many high rise window cleaners do not have the means to quick emergency treatment" ....

Perhaps we should canvas our government to ban everything that encourages people to get excited or to insist on state-of-the-art surgical wards at every ground, on every high-rise building site and why in every train running on the London Underground while we're at it.

On second thoughts why not just just ban dying. It's upsetting, ridiculously over-dramatic it so closes people's earthly oiptions and too often causes so much disruption and inconvenience.

How ironic that we live in a world so pre-occupied with religion and the paradise of the hereafter yet we seem so determined with stopping people getting there.

[DeclanMC]

Perhaps we should canvas our government to ban everything that encourages people to get excited or to insist on state-of-the-art surgical wards at every ground, on every high-rise building site and why in every train running on the London Underground while we're at it.

On second thoughts why not just just ban dying. It's upsetting, ridiculously over-dramatic it so closes people's earthly oiptions and too often causes so much disruption and inconvenience.

How ironic that we live in a world so pre-occupied with religion and the paradise of the hereafter yet we seem so determined with stopping people getting there.

I don't think anyone is saying that? Can I ask what is so wrong with having a defibrillator on the wall somewhere in the stadium for the probable one thing the St John's Ambulance people can't treat themselves or have time to wait for paramedics. Or are you saying that if someone has a heart attack at a Leicester game, we should go ahead and let them die? God forbid if you ran the country and ever had something happen to you.

[OzFox]

Or are you saying that if someone has a heart attack at a Leicester game, we should go ahead and let them die?

It certainly beats dying in your sleep, getting hit by a bus, or a myriad of other options.

Slumping to the floor after the third goal against Forest...one hell of a way to go.

[leftsideoverhere]

There's been a serious push over recent years, partly funded by charities like the British Heart Foundation and partly from NHS initiatives, to put defibs in lots of public places - you'll now often see them on the wall at tube stations, football grounds, and anywhere else that there's likely to be large numbers of people. A defib is an easy piece of equipment to use, and the devices being placed in public places are designed to be safe when used by people other than health professionals. So it's not a surprise to find that UK clubs came out well in the survey.

Defibrillation isn't appropriate in every heart attack, so it may be in any particular case having access to a defib wouldn't be decisive in whether the patient survived or not. But over time, they will save lives.

Anyone who thinks putting defibs in large public buildings is on a par with banning anything which "encourages people to get excited" is simply a ****wit. A closer parallel would be installing pedestrian crossings on busy roads. We know traffic is a risk, so we plan to minimise the risk. We know that fast defibrillation in the event of heart attack can save lives, so we plan to do it. If you begrudge sixpence of your taxes going to something like that Thracian then you're at the most extreme end of libertarian bullshit I've ever encountered.

[DeclanMC]

There's been a serious push over recent years, partly funded by charities like the British Heart Foundation and partly from NHS initiatives, to put defibs in lots of public places - you'll now often see them on the wall at tube stations, football grounds, and anywhere else that there's likely to be large numbers of people. A defib is an easy piece of equipment to use, and the devices being placed in public places are designed to be safe when used by people other than health professionals. So it's not a surprise to find that UK clubs came out well in the survey.

Defibrillation isn't appropriate in every heart attack, so it may be in any particular case having access to a defib wouldn't be decisive in whether the patient survived or not. But over time, they will save lives.

Anyone who thinks putting defibs in large public buildings is on a par with banning anything which "encourages people to get excited" is simply a ****wit. A closer parallel would be installing pedestrian crossings on busy roads. We know traffic is a risk, so we plan to minimise the risk. We know that fast defibrillation in the event of heart attack can save lives, so we plan to do it. If you begrudge sixpence of your taxes going to something like that Thracian then you're at the most extreme end of libertarian bullshit I've ever encountered.

Probably he thinks the cost of installing the defibrillator will pay levi porter's wages for a week