Footballer cardiac arrest sparks renewed calls for defibrillators at grounds

Campaigners have renewed calls for more defibrillators to be made available following the cardiac arrest of a footballer during Euro 2020.

Football fans watched in horror when Danish Striker Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch, during a European Championship game against Finland last week.

Eriksen had suffered a cardiac arrest - where the heart suddenly stops pumping blood, causing someone to lose consciousness and stop breathing.

"This shocking event was a stark reminder that a cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anywhere and anytime, without warning and even be the first sign of a heart problem.”Dr Sonya Babu-NarayanImperial's National Heart and Lung Institute, and Associate Medical Director, British Heart Foundation

The 29-year-old's life was saved by the rapid medical treatment he received. A combination of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and a defibrillator (a device that delivers an electric shock to the heart), meant he was conscious by the time he was carried off the pitch.

Team doctor Morten Boesen confirmed these actions were lifesaving: “he was gone”, Boesen told press after the incident, but "we got him back after one defib...that’s quite fast”.

Eriksen is reported to be in a stable condition, and has since had a medical device implanted to stabilise his heart rhythm.

With 12 people under the age of 35 dying each week in the UK due to sudden cardiac arrest, researchers at Imperial's National Heart and Lung Institute are at the forefront of developing new tests and treatments for undiagnosed heart conditions.

Here they explain why sudden cardiac arrests happen, how Imperial scientists are helping save more lives from heart conditions - and why more public places urgently need defibrillators.

How to re-start a heart

Defibrillators are devices which give an electric shock to the heart of someone who is in cardiac arrest, via pads or paddles applied to the chest. This shock, called defibrillation or ‘defib’, can help to restore the heart’s rhythm.

“Eriksen is reported to have had cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation,” explains Dr Zachary Whinnett, Reader in Cardiac Electrophysiology within Imperial’s National Heart and Lung Institute. “This is where the heart effectively stops beating because of a heart rhythm disturbance affecting the ventricles, which are the main pumping chambers of the heart.”

“Defibrillators can be life-saving as they can restore the heart’s normal rhythm,” he adds. "The sooner the treatment is delivered the better the chance the shock will be successful.”

Dr Whinnett explains around about 2 in 100,000 athletes under the age of 40 each year suffer a cardiac arrest.

People who are at high risk of sudden cardiac death may be offered an implantable defibrillator which can rapidly treat ventricular arrhythmias - such as as Eriksen, as well as current Netherlands defender Daley Blind, who has had a cardiac implant since 2019.

With a cardiac arrest, time is everything. It is estimated that the chances of survival are 50% greater if defibrillation is delivered within the first 2 minutesDr Fu Siong NgImperial's National Heart and Lung Institute

Dr Fu Siong Ng, Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial's National Heart and Lung Institute, echoes why timing is so crucial: "With a cardiac arrest, time is everything. It is estimated that the chances of survival are 50% greater if defibrillation is delivered within the first 2 minutes following the onset of cardiac arrest.

"During cardiac arrest, the heart muscle and brain are not receiving any blood or oxygen, and these organs can rapidly deteriorate over minutes under such conditions. The more delayed the defibrillation, the poorer the chances of survival."

The recent incident at Euro 2020 echoes that of former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba, who was revived by medics using defibrillators after collapsing on the pitch with cardiac arrest during a Premier League game in 2012.

Muamba has since campaigned for defibrillators to be made available in public spaces across the UK, including shops and gyms.

A defibrillator in a public space. The devices can give an electric shock to the heart of someone who is in cardiac arrest, helping to restore the heart’s natural rhythm.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, Reader in Adult Congenital Heart disease, within Imperial’s National Heart and Lung Institute and Associate Medical Director at the BHF said: "This shocking event was a stark reminder that a cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anywhere and anytime, without warning and even be the first sign of a heart problem.”

“If someone suffers a cardiac arrest, it’s vital they receive immediate CPR and defibrillation to give them the best chance of survival. The speed of the response for Christian Eriksen was incredibly impressive and it saved his life.”

It’s crucial that we continue to find opportunities to offer everyone training in CPR, from including it in secondary school education to teaching it in the workplaceDr Sonya Babu-Narayan

“Every second counts when someone suffers a cardiac arrest -the more of us that know how to perform CPR, the more lives that can be saved.

"At the British Heart Foundation we have seen a more than 2,000 per cent increase in people visiting our website to learn CPR and find out how to use a defibrillator. If you learn CPR you too could be a potential lifesaver one day."

"It’s crucial that we continue to find opportunities to offer everyone training in CPR, from including it in secondary school education to teaching it in the workplace, and that we make public access defibrillators readily available in the places they are needed most.

"We need research to help us better select who might need a defibrillator implanted to save their life. My research at Imperial is to find tools to answer this question for people living with congenital heart disease.”

For more information on cardiac arrest, defibrillators and CPR, visit the British Heart Foundation website.

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