Organised sport should not happen without trained medical staff present, say experts

Freelance photographer Rashied Isaacs captured this moment and treated a player convulsing in a recent game with no first-aid staff at the field. (Photo: Supplied)

By Vincent Cruywagen

6 Jul 2021

In a recent Euro 2020 encounter, Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during a game against Finland. Quick intervention by medics saved his life — but what is in place to save the lives of our children on local sports fields?

Boebie Solomons, former PSL coach, Santos midfielder and now director of coaching for SA Football Association (Safa) Cape Town said the Eriksen incident underlined the importance of equipping local coaches to deal with serious injuries on the pitch.

“Local coaches are our first line of defence and the first to react when a player sustains a serious injury. Coaches’ interventions could be a decision between life and death.

“Getting our coaches equipped with the necessary skills to save lives is more important than training sessions,” Solomons said.

On Saturday, 12 June the soccer fraternity was stunned when Eriksen (29) suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch. Medics rushed to the player and performed CPR while his teammates shielded him.

Solomons said that following this incident Safa Cape Town had appointed Dr Nasief van der Schyff of Victoria Hospital to explain the importance of coaches being able to deal with such issues on the field.

“Van der Schyff also dealt in detail on the prevention measures to be utilised on the field and emphasised the vital role a captain has to play on the field to make sure that an injured player assumes the correct posture to prevent further serious complications,” he said.

Over the past years, several players have died on soccer fields on the Cape Flats and Solomons hopes that by equipping coaches this could be stopped.

Among the players who died on or near soccer fields were 16-year-old Imtiyaaz Wagiet, captain of Bayview FC’s U17 team, who died in a game against Strandfontein FC in October 2019; Craig Johnson, an over-35 player for Wesley United who died in 2018 after he came off the field and took up his position on the reserve bench; Mogamat Ruiters, who had a heart attack in 2012 on the Rylands sports field and died on his way to hospital; and Reza Salie (26) from Bluebell AFC, who in 2010 died after he collapsed on the William Herbert soccer field.

Freelance sports photographer Rashied Isaacs, who is a trained intermediate life support practitioner, has been taking action photos at sport events over the past decade. He has witnessed numerous sports injuries and at times put down his camera and ran on to the field to assist an injured player.

“Because there are no first aid staff at the field I would put my camera down and assist with injuries from a broken leg to a shoulder.

Freelance photographer Rashied Isaacs captured this moment and treated a player convulsing in a recent game with no first-aid staff at the field. (Photo: Supplied)

“As a trained medic and doing my duties on the community sports field I realised that there was a shortage of first aid. The first thing that I did was, with the help of those who assist me with the vision that I have, we trained pupils at Macassar and Zandvliet High Schools for free in first aid,” Isaacs said.

This, he said, had a ripple effect and the initiative was adopted by various sporting codes on the Cape Flats. But he feels more medically trained personnel are needed at sports venues on weekends.

Former Santos striker Keith America said, “Coaches are normally educated on the basis of first aid when they do their coaching courses, but broken legs are for the experts in their trade. Local football associations should involve the Red Cross or organisations that have the experience dealing in sports injuries, whereas all clubs in local football associations need to contribute to a fund dealing with injuries.”

Dr Wayne Viljoen, senior manager for rugby safety at SA Rugby, said they have medical requirements that have to be fulfilled before a rugby match can start. As a bare minimum, no game can start without a qualified first aider on site, and a spinal board, collar, harness and head block must be available.

“An important part of service provision is the education around dealing with these kinds of incidents, both proactively in prevention and when they occur.

“Via the BokSmart National Rugby Safety Programme, all coaches and referees are educated on injury prevention strategies, with specific focus on head, neck, and spine injuries, but also on medical incidents such as the Eriksen incident. All schools and clubs are encouraged to put workable emergency action plans (EAPs) in place for rugby-related incidents, which are potentially catastrophic in nature,” he said.

Viljoen underlined that at the top end of the game, the presence of highly skilled and qualified medical teams has always been a prerequisite.

“One can only hope that the medical staff at our matches can be as quick and responsive as the team that assisted with the Eriksen incident.”

At the amateur level of the game, he said, they could only encourage schools and clubs to increase their level of medical support and to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) available where they are financially able to do so.

Dr Rob Collins, the Sigma Lions’ rugby team doctor, said sudden death syndrome (SDS), which is very uncommon, affects young, healthy athletes.

“SDS occurs when an athlete who is often away from the rest of the action suddenly and without any visible provocation collapses. The most important issues relating to such an event is firstly to recognise it, and secondly to have an AED on hand.

“The AED gives instructions on how to connect it to the patient and administer shock if needed. This piece of equipment can be used by virtually anyone, and is designed for this type of situation and to be used by trained or untrained people,” Collins said.

He believes that organised sport should not be played without trained medical staff present. DM/MC

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