Heart Attack Fears for Football Fans in European Stadiums

Anyone a football fan? If you support a team like I do (Hull City AFC), then you may relate to the contents of this one – The saying “roller-coaster of a ride” is probably an understatement given my teams, highs and lows in the last two to three seasons! And a heart attack at a football stadium is apparently not uncommon given the emotional pendulum we fans endure through at a match; in fact, according to sources form the BBC, European football grounds lack the essential equipment required to save the life of a person suffering form heart attack on the premises (source)! 

The report quotes that most stadiums consider having this type of equipment to be good practice (Referring to Hull’s performance again, I would like to think KC Stadium has got a few of these!)  – However, the conclusions from a recent study indicate that more than a quarter of a 187 grounds analysed did not have defibrillators on site; and many didn’t even have any emergency planning in place.

The Swedish study from a team of doctors have stressed that more needs to be done due to the difficulties of getting fans to hospital from the ground. Researches have called for mandatory rules to be in place to cover the issue. Reportedly, governments have already been acting on the issue; with many including the UK doing more to increase the availability of life-saving equipment in public spaces.

Defibrillators of course are handy to have – they work to restore the heartbeat by delivering a controlled electric shock through the chest, and on to the heart.

So aside form the obvious, medically speaking, what exactly do I mean in linking heart attacks to football?

Well Professor Mats Borjesson, the official medic for Swedish club GAIS and a member of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, has stated “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.” I think this speaks for itself really! He went on to say that it is important to have the right procedures in place for such an event.

The stadiums involved have not been named – however they are reportedly in the top divisions. To bring the seriousness of this to light, the report states that last season there were 77 heart attacks at football games – one for every 589,000 spectators at these stadiums.

Perhaps lucky for us Brits, the spread of 37 English grounds involved in the study were statistically among the top performers.

Although this particular issue can not be 100% related to health and safety regulations, as with any other establishment, the ground owners of course have a duty to ensure that everything is done to prevent any person coming to harm, or suffering further due to the absence of essential life saving equipment.

But as the season continues, here’s to hoping Goodison Park has the right equipment this Sunday for Hull’s away game!