A&H

Defibrillator Petition

Cheshire Ref

Cheshire Ref

RefChat Addict
I am sure most have seen the news relating to Daniel Wilkinson of Shaw Lane Aqua Force who went into cardiac arrest and tragically lost his life at weekend simply playing this game we all love. It really does hit home, the guy was 26. This could be anyone of us or any player that we are refereeing.

This online petition has been generated to urge the FA to fund a defibrillator at every ground in the country. Pleas take a minute to read and sign. Thanks.

www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/677/314/880/getting-defibulators-to-all-football-grounds/#
 
The Referee Store
signed that - quiet worrying that it isn't already a requirement under FA protocol (yet a burger van at every ground is?? :eek:)

besides his awful spelling lol a few incorrect details, like 'the first 10 minutes of cardiac arrest' very very wrong ... first 3 minutes
 
I thought that they were required at all Step 6 grounds.

The FA had a promotion where clubs could buy one for 50% of normal price. Still too dear for most local level football clubs. I understand that they are becoming a requirement for Football Foundation funding request. That will help the more popular clubs.
 
Can I just comment on this incident. There was a defibrillator on the pitch on 2 minutes as well as a fully trained nurse as well as an ambulance on the pitch in 5 minutes. It was nothing to do with not having one. I don't disagree with any of this, I totally agree. Just making a point of saying there was a defibrillator.
 
Should be mandatory at all sporting venues and available in many more public buildings and areas. They aren't expensive in the scheme of things and genuinely can be the difference between life and death. Middlesex recently sent out the e-version of this seasons Count Cup rules and on the second last page is a "special offer" that advertises a defib unit for a price of £986 all inclusive. Its says its a County FA Special so I would hope that its rolled out and the offer taken up by as many clubs and groups as possible.
 
Complete non starter with the price of a defib and training. Also what if the trained club official isn't present? Do we abandon the game?
The clubs that would fold if this became mandatory would be a far greater loss to public health than the TINY percentage that could have been saved with it.
Whilst very sad, football is a very, very, very safe sport and you'r prob more likely to die en route to the match
 
The whole point of these units is that you don't need any training. They are "idiot proof" and will not activate and deliver a shock unless all the right conditions are detected by the unit. Instructions are clear and pictorial so in theory anybody should be able to open, apply pads and use should the need arise.

Not suggesting it should be mandated like goal nets and corner flags, but for the price of less than a grand clubs/venues/locations should seriously consider having one.
 
206eddy said:
The whole point of these units is that you don't need any training. They are "idiot proof" and will not activate and deliver a shock unless all the right conditions are detected by the unit. Instructions are clear and pictorial so in theory anybody should be able to open, apply pads and use should the need arise.

Not suggesting it should be mandated like goal nets and corner flags, but for the price of less than a grand clubs/venues/locations should seriously consider having one.
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The thing is, I didn't know they were idiot proof until I had been on a course.
I'd have not had the confidence to attempt to use it before then and neither will 95% of people
 
deusex said:
The thing is, I didn't know they were idiot proof until I had been on a course.
I'd have not had the confidence to attempt to use it before then and neither will 95% of people
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Agreed. I'd seen them all about and thought they were for professional use only. Only after we went through them on my coaching emergency aid course did I realise just how idiot proof they are. That message needs to be shared a lot wider than it is now.
 
deusex said:
Complete non starter with the price of a defib and training. Also what if the trained club official isn't present? Do we abandon the game?
The clubs that would fold if this became mandatory would be a far greater loss to public health than the TINY percentage that could have been saved with it.
Whilst very sad, football is a very, very, very safe sport and you'r prob more likely to die en route to the match
Click to expand...

Why would any club fold? Not following your argument there deusex...

If the FA wants to make it mandatory they should assist with the cost of the item.
As for training - anybody with basic first aid training will have been trained on a defib these days. They are designed so that anybody with no first aid training or defib knowledge can use them.
 
Let's be realistic here, the FA won't be paying for this. There are budget cuts all over the place at the moment, lots of redundancies over the past year or so, so there isn't a massive pot of money sitting around for this. Every ground in the country - how many are there? I don't know but I would guess there are at least 20,000 venues with football pitches in England, so that alone is the best part of £20 million, and that is probably a massive under estimation.

Whilst any death whilst playing football is tragic, there needs to be some realism. At many of these venues there are multiple pitches and by the time the defibrillator was taken to the correct pitch it would be too late. Take for an example a possible heart attack on pitch S21 at Hackney Marshes, how long is it going to be to get the machine to the player? And whilst that's an extreme example, the same can probably said of most multi-pitch venues.
 
RustyRef said:
At many of these venues there are multiple pitches and by the time the defibrillator was taken to the correct pitch it would be too late. .
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Why do you say that? Are you qualified to know when 'too late' is? CPR may be doing enough to keeper the person 'in the game', so to speak. And it may not. Or the defib might be grabbed at first sign of severe difficulties but before the heart has stopped.

Cost is, of course, a major concern. My old local region has had the local FA purchase defibs for all clubs. We're talking some 15-20 clubs or so.
 
Cheshire Ref said:
Of all the posts i have posted on this forum this is the one i was sure would not be met with negativity. Maybe not.
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Negativity?
You mean realism?
6 people die on our roads EVERY SINGLE DAY. How many would this £20M save?
The human life has a price, resources are limited and this would be a waste of resources.
Harsh but true
 
deusex said:
Negativity?
You mean realism?
6 people die on our roads EVERY SINGLE DAY. How many would this £20M save?
The human life has a price, resources are limited and this would be a waste of resources.
Harsh but true
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The FA are not responsible for our roads so that analogy is nonsense.
I completely disagree with you on this. A waste of resources? How should the FA be spending their money then? Do you know how much your County FA or District FA have in the bank? More than enough to help with this or at least subsidies it for grounds to buy them.
 
Cheshire Ref said:
Do you know how much your County FA or District FA have in the bank? More than enough to help with this or at least subsidies it for grounds to buy them.
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County FA's receive £4m every 2 years to fund all courses, events and any other thing like 4G courts (at £500,000 a pop) wages, property etc are covered by the FA.

also @deusex much more than £20m is spent annually on saving life's on the road ... traffic police wages/ambulance services, all the street signs that say 'don't drink and drive' etc, Highways Agency, Roadworkers, DVSA, all the government leaflets about safe driving, drink driving, drug driving, sleep driving, wearing seatbelts ... the list goes on and on. id say more £20m monthly goes on saving those 6 life's a day ... I mean that makes the human life worth around £100k - not sure about you, but I value my life much more than that - that's a couple years wages!

the truth of it is, there'll never be a time when this can be stopped. Reaction times are slower, the mind doesn't actually process what has happened - most first aiders don't want to come forward as they are 'scared' they'll do it wrong - in actual fact 'wrong' is better than not at all! (also, you cannot now sue a first aider!!) and before you know it the poor old chappie has perished in front of 21 players, 2 managers, 3 coaches and a handful of dog walkers on a rainy Sunday morning ... I agree 'sports venues' should have them in place! but a Sunday morning park? which thousands of games are played at? behave ... they barely have changing rooms!

also, where do we stop? every bus stop have one? every 3rd lampost? just incase someone falls down in the middle of the street ...
 
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