Some of the biggest names in elite sport have joined together to call on the government to make it mandatory for schools and sports clubs to have lifesaving defibrillators on site.

A letter, written and spearheaded by Dr Zafar Iqbal – formerly Liverpool Football Club’s team doctor and now head of sports medicine at Crystal Palace FC – was sent to every MP and Prime Minister Boris Johnson today (5 August) to highlight the importance of rapidly using defibrillators in order to save lives when someone has suffered a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

The letter is being supported by past and present LFC stars including Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling.

Patrick Vieira, Brendan Rodgers, Kyle Walker, Wilfred Zaha, Andros Townsend and international cricketer Moeen Ali have also backed the bill.

The letter explains how far the UK lags behind other developed countries in saving people who have suffered with a SCA, and highlights the work of the Oliver King Foundation – which has campaigned for more than a decade to make lifesaving defibrillators mandatory in schools.

The foundation started work in 2011 after Oliver King, a pupil at King David High School, suffered a SCA during a swimming race but the lack of access to a defibrillator meant that he sadly could not be saved.

Fabrice Muamba, who suffered a SCA himself whilst playing for Bolton Wanderers FC in 2012 before a defibrillator helped to save his life, also signed the letter alongside Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish and elite medical staff from several Premier League clubs.

On 10 September, Jim Shannon MP is set to bring to parlaiment a second reading of a bill which would make it mandatory for schools and sports clubs to have lifesaving defibrillators on site.

Dr Iqbal’s letter reads:

Dear Member of Parliament,

On September 10, Jim Shannon MP and his colleagues from across all parties will call for a Second Reading in Parliament to make lifesaving defibrillators mandatory for schools and sports clubs to have on site. 

This follows the support of Mr Shannon and other MP’s for the work of The Oliver King Foundation, which has been campaigning on this issue for over 10 years. 

As a group of senior health care practitioners, professional athletes and those associated within UK sport, we are calling on the government to support the Second Reading to make it mandatory for all schools and sports clubs to have an Automated External defibrillator (AED) on site.  

The importance of prompt use of an AED was clearly highlighted on June 12, 2021, when Christian Eriksen of Denmark, collapsed on the field before halftime in a Euro 2020 game vs Finland.

The rapid recognition and use of both CPR and an AED to restart his heart was critical to Christian surviving, and is a timely reminder of what success can be achieved when the appropriate equipment is immediately available for use in a cardiac arrest scenario.

This also brought back memories of another professional footballer, Fabrice Muamba, who had a cardiac arrest before being successfully resuscitated on the pitch at White Hart Lane, London in 2012. 

What happened to Christian and Fabrice were both medical successes and great examples of what can be achieved when appropriate equipment is on hand promptly. However, when access to this equipment is not readily available, the consequences are devastating.

Take Oliver King as just one example out of the thousands who have died after suffering a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). He was just 12 years old but during a school swimming race on March 2, 2011, Oliver had a cardiac arrest and the lack of access to a defibrillator meant that he could not be saved. Since then, the youngster’s family – including his dad Mark King – have been campaigning for lifesaving defibrillators to be installed in schools across our nation.

And now we join them, as SCA is a major cause of death in developed Western countries with an estimated 60,000 cases annually in the UK.  Every week in the UK, 12 young people under 35 years of age die from SCA due to undiagnosed cardiac conditions. 

In England, the ambulance service attempts resuscitation in approximately 30,000 cases per annum. However, only rarely are they able to provide defibrillation early enough for the patient to survive.

The single most influential factor in improving survival is treatment with a life-saving defibrillation shock from an AED. Following SCA, survival rates drop 7-10% every minute without defibrillation and therefore it is essential AEDs are publicly accessible as AEDs are only used in 5-10% out of hospital arrests currently, largely due to lack of availability in the community.  

Using an AED is easy and can cause no harm; the Resuscitation Council (UK) states – “An AED [defibrillator] can be used safely and effectively without previous training”.  AEDs are compact, portable, effective, require little maintenance and can be stored for long periods.

AEDs analyse the heart’s rhythm and will only deliver a shock if it is indicated. Once activated, the AED guides the user through each step of the defibrillation process by using voice and visual prompts – which Mr King aptly demonstrated to the nation on BBC Breakfast while highlighting how important they are.  

Defibrillation is the use of a high-energy electric shock that stops the chaotic rhythm and allows the normal, organised, electrical rhythm of the heart to restart. This can allow the pumping action of the heart to return.

Survival rates in the UK following SCA is around 8%, which is poor compared with other developed countries. For example, in Seattle in the United States and Stavanger in Norway, where many citizens are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and there are widespread available AEDs, survival from out of hospital SCA with a shockable rhythm is above 50%. 

The survival rate from out of hospital SCA in the UK needs to improve to be comparable with other parts of the world.  

The major factor limiting the number of people who survive SCA is the ability to provide defibrillation within a critical time period.  In countries with improved survival rates AEDs are more widely available and more of the public are trained in CPR. In the UK, as call-to-arrival times are usually greater than 10 minutes, ambulances often arrive too late to successfully resuscitate most people with out-of-hospital SCA.  

The best chance of survival for a casualty with SCA is prompt access to an AED, this could lead to a significant reduction in mortality in both children and adults.  It has been shown in the United States, that where there is a school based AED program, there is a successful resuscitation rate as high as 71%, for those who suffer a SCA in schools. 

AEDs being available shouldn’t be just for professional athletes. We hope that you will support the Second Reading.

Dr Zafar Iqbal, Consultant in Sports & Exercise Medicine, Head of Sports Medicine at Crystal Palace FC (CPFC)

Signed by:

Fabrice Muamba – Retired Professional footballer & Cardiac Arrest Survivor 

Steven Gerrard – Manager, Rangers FC

Patrick Vieira – Manager, Crystal Palace FC

Brendan Rodgers – Manager, Leicester City FC

Sir Kenny Dalglish – Retired Professional Footballer & Manager

Jordan Henderson – Professional Footballer,  Liverpool FC & England

Raheem Sterling – Professional Footballer, Manchester City FC & England

Kyle Walker – Professional Footballer, Manchester City FC & England

Wilfried Zaha – Professional Footballer Crystal Palace FC & Ivory Coast

Andros Townsend – Professional Footballer, Everton FC

Moeen Ali – Professional Cricketer for Worcestershire & England

Jamie Carragher – Football Pundit & Retired Professional Footballer

Neil Ruddock – Retired Professional Footballer

Steve Parish – Chairman, CPFC

Mehta Malonga – CEO, Players Football Association

Prof Sanjay Sharma – Consultant Cardiologist, St Georges Hospital

Dr Jan Till – Consultant Cardiologist, Brompton Hospital

Dr Aneil Malhotra – Consultant Cardiologist, The OrthTeam Centre

Dr Rob Cooper – Consultant Cardiologist, Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital

Dr Andrew Massey – Medical Director, FIFA

Dr Mark Gillett – Premier League Medical Adviser

Dr Aseem Malhotra – Consultant Cardiologist

Dr Steve Mcnally – Head of Sports Medicine, Manchester United FC

Dr Max Sala – Head of Sports Medicine, Manchester City FC

Dr Bryan English – Head of Sports Medicine, Leicester City FC

Dr Gary O’Driscoll – Head of Sports Medicine, Arsenal FC

Dr Dimitrios Kalogiannidis – First Team Dr, Chelsea FC

Dr Richard Weiler – First Team Dr, West Ham Utd FC

Dr Imtiaz Ahmed – Head of Sports Medicine, Queens Park Rangers FC

Prof Len Noakes – Medical Officer Cardiff City & Professor at Cardiff University

Chris Morgan – First Team Physiotherapist, Liverpool FC

Geoff Scott – Head of Sports Medicine, Tottenham Hotspur FC

Professor Simon Kemp – Medical Services Director, Rugby Football Union

Dr Andrew Murray – Chief Medical Officer, European Tour Golf

Dr Jerry Hill – Chief Medical Adviser, British Horseracing Authority

Dr Rod Jaques – Director of Medical Services, English Institute of Sport

Dr Paul Jackson – Deputy Director of Medicine, English Institute of Sport

Dr Gemma Phillips – Team Dr, Hull Kingston Rovers & England Rugby League

Dr Jo Larkin – Chief Medical Officer, Lawn Tennis Association

Reshmin Chowdhury – Sports Journalist and Broadcaster

Jonathan Joseph – Radio Presenter