2023-11-02 19:03:27
The collapse suffered by the Dane Christian Eriksen During a Euro 2021 match the alarm was raised about an incident that occurs very exceptionally on a football field. However, the event aroused the attention of millions of people who were watching the game. Football, as a mass sport, has proposed save lives like Eriksen’s, who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing.
“It’s easy and it saves lives,” says Zoran Bahtijarevic, UEFA’s chief doctor, about the technique of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the emergency process by which blood circulation can be maintained when the heart has stopped beating and the person He is unconscious, not responding or breathing.
Having knowledge of resuscitation would prevent 100,000 deaths annually due to sudden cardiac arrest.
Salvation from resuscitation
The Congolese footballer Fabrice Muamba collapsed in 2012 when he played with Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham. He was without a heartbeat for 78 minutes, but he saved his life and had no brain damage due to lack of oxygen, since he maintained his circulation with the chest compressions that were performed on him. Any person anywhere will save their life if someone takes care of them immediately, without needing to be a doctor or healthcare worker. 100,000 deaths from sudden cardiac arrest could be avoided.
Extending this knowledge is the main purpose of the alliance between UEFA and the European Resuscitation Council: taking advantage of the relevance of football to promote the teaching of this technique. “More than 80% of cardiac arrests occur at home,” explained Koen Monsieurs, president of the European Resuscitation Council. Bahtijarevic and Monsieurs agree that this preparation should already be provided in schools, institutes, and workplaces, precisely because cardiac arrest can happen to anyone anywhere in the world.
Ceferin, the first
The advertising campaign, titled ‘Get trained; save lives’ (Train yourself, save lives), It will start next year, shortly before the European Championship in Germany, but UEFA has been providing the training since last year. The first to receive it was Aleksandr Ceferin, the president of UEFA and from there the aim is to popularize it at all levels of football up to the fan: teaching 100,000 people is the challenge. The project includes an interactive training course presented by the former Dutch footballer Ruud Gullit.
“Applying those compressions cannot cause any harm. You can save a life because there is a person who is dying. What is worse than that?”
UEFA chief doctor
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Clubs, federations, coaches and players are receiving training in the different tournaments organized by UEFA. The action protocol will be mandatory in all competitions starting next season.
One of the objectives of the project is to eliminate the fear of intervening due to lack of knowledge. “Applying these compressions cannot cause any harm. You can save a life because there is a person who is dying. What is worse than that?” Bahtijarevic asks.
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