Football: First Aid

(asked on 29th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring all (a) players, (b) coaches and (c) referees at each club level of football to undertake an emergency first aid course.


Answered by
Nigel Huddleston Portrait
Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 5th July 2021

First aid skills, including how to administer CPR, are important life skills for everyone. Recent events at UEFA EURO 2020 have demonstrated the immense value of first aid training and access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for anyone involved in football.

While I fully support everyone acquiring first aid skills, it is for The Football Association, as the national governing body for football in England, and the operators of the various league competitions to determine what courses should be mandatory for participants in football.

AEDs are already recommended best practice at all sports stadia, including football stadia, as set out in guidance from the Sports Grounds Safety Authority. Local authorities are able to mandate AED provision (at grounds designated under the Safety of Sports Grounds 1975 Act or sports grounds with regulated stands under the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987 Act) through medical plans included in General Safety Certificates.

At the grassroots level, support over recent years has been provided by the Football Association and the British Heart Foundation to help ensure AEDs are available in football facilities. Building on this, I welcomed the Premier League’s announcement in June 2021 of their new Defibrillator Fund, which will fund AEDs at thousands of football clubs and facilities across the country. Each grant recipient will be required to have at least one person successfully complete The FA Education’s free online Sudden Cardiac Arrest course.

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