OWEN COYLE joined The Scottish Football Partnership today at Hampden to launch their nationwide programme to train over 1000 coaches at grassroots level in Sports First Aid for youth, women’s, Amateur, East Of Scotland and Junior football. Coyle, who was Fabrice Muamba’s manager when the Bolton player had a cardiac arrest during a game against Tottenham last March, said: “This is fantastic project. I appreciate its importance especially after the incident involving Fabrice. It is great to see The Scottish Football Partnership taking a lead in such a vital area that will be greatly appreciated by players, coaches and parents across Scotland.”
Stuart McCaffrey, secretary of SFP, said: “There are thousands of injuries every year on pitches across Scotland. Some are very serious and can happen at anytime and at any level. It’s crucial for all those participating that proper treatment is available. The Scottish Football Partnership believe this is a vital and ambitious project. 1400 people will receive training over the next 3 years and I am sure parents, in particular, will appreciate having trained people pitchside. In real terms, in excess of 22,000 players will be positively effected by this new scheme”
Dr John MacLean, the Scottish FA medical officer and director of Hampden’s Sports Medicine centre who run the courses, said: “The Fabrice Muamba incident showed the importance of basic life support skills pitch side . There were hands on chest within 30 seconds of him going down.”The treatment of sporting injuries often differs from a normal ‘accident’ environment. A trauma experienced on the field of play is likely to be very different from that found at a traffic accident. Our tutors all have experience with football injuries. Judgement is critical when a player needs to be removed from the field of play, especially a child, as it is very often against the wishes of a coach/team manager or even a parent. It also often comes down to knowing what not to do when someone has ahead injury or broken leg.The course was developed by Hampden’s National Sports Medicine Institute and has been validated by The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (UK). The Sports Medicine Centre issues a Sports First Aid certificate that is valid for three years.
