European football stadiums ill-prepared for heart attacks

Nearly 30 percent of 190 major soccer arenas in Europe did not have adequate procedures or equipment to deal with heart attacks among spectators.

The stadiums lacked external defibrillators, which deliver electric shocks that can be a life-saver for someone suffering a heart attack. It is important that the device is available at the venues, as they can only be effective 3-5 minutes after an attack kicks in.

The survey, which was carried out by four doctors with club experience for the European Heart Journal, found that Serbian and Greek stadiums fared the worst, whereas Italian and Norwegian clubs provided the best equipment and procedures to ensure the medical safety of their spectators.

Among the stadiums surveyed, there were 77 cardiac arrests in a single season. The study stresses that heart attacks in football stadiums are not rare, as emotions can run high and cause heart problems.

Little information on German stadiums

Football associations from ten countries - Britain (England & Scotland), France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Greece, Norway, Serbia, Austria and the Netherlands - took part in the study by filling in questionnaires on safety procedures and medical equipment.

But information on stadiums in Germany was hard to come by.

The German Football Association (DFB) did not take part in the survey

"We tried several times to get hold of the relevant person at the DFB (German Football Association), but we didn't manage to get any information from the DFB," Klaus-Peter Mellwig, a German cardiologist and co-author of the study, told Deutsche Welle.

"We were not given a reason as to why the DFB didn't respond,” he explained.

"What I can say is that, due to personal contacts, I know of three stadiums that meet our requirements in Germany," says Mellwig, who also works with the German national handball team.

The stadiums Mellwig rates as having appropriate medical equipment and procedures are the Gerry Weber stadium in Halle in Westfalen, the Schueco-Arena in Bielefeld and the Energieteam-Arena in Paderborn, all of which are located in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia.

The DFB was not available for comment.

Call for action

Across Europe, more than one in three stadiums did not have a medical action plan in case of an emergency. The authors of the survey say clubs need to start paying attention to spectators' medical safety in their stadiums.

"When you consider that our study was looking at what was probably best-case scenarios - top clubs, with good resources - it would appear that the inadequate arrangements are due to a lack of attention being paid to safety procedures, rather than financial constraints," says Mats Borjesson, a professor at Gothenburg University in Sweden and lead author of the study.

"The first step is for the European Society of Cardiology to prepare recommendations, which we are doing," says Borjesson, who is also a team doctor for the Swedish premier league.

A spokeswoman for UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) told Deutsche Welle that the organization has general guidelines on first aiders and facilities for the emergency services for those stadiums hosting UEFA competitions.

But, according to UEFA, it is up to individual national associations to establish rules regarding any additional medical and safety requirements.

Author: Nicole Goebel
Editor: Michael Lawton