Training the Denmark national football teams in cardiopulmonary resuscitation - Part of the UEFA and ERC 'Get Trained, Save Lives' campaign.
Resuscitation plus · 2025-11-15 · Observational study
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The 'Get Trained, Save Lives' campaign by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) was launched to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and the importance of learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). All national football teams qualified for the EUROs 2024 and 2025 were offered 45 min of CPR training in the form of a 'GO and save A Life' (GOAL) session. This study aimed to assess whether high-quality CPR could be performed by players and staff of the Danish men's and women's national football teams following a GOAL session. As a part of the 'Get Trained, Save Lives' campaign, hopefully, this will help to inspire the public to get CPR trained. METHODS: We collected data from a two-minute CPR quality assessment following GOAL sessions in June 2024 and June 2025. All players and staff of the Denmark national football teams were invited to participate in the study, with missing data as the only exclusion criterion. Participants were provided CPR manikins that recorded CPR quality metrics on chest compressions and rescue breaths. CPR quality scores were compared between male and female players, players with different field positions, and players and staff. RESULTS: We included 88 participants (24 male players, 23 female players, and 41 staff members). The results showed that 60 % of participants met compression rate recommendations, 93 % met compression depth recommendations, 90 % met chest recoil recommendations, 91 % met hands-off time recommendations, and 85 % met rescue breath recommendations.The combined CPR quality score was 90 points (range: 0-100 points). Female players achieved a slightly higher score than male players (95 vs. 84 points, p-value <0.05), while there was no significant difference in CPR quality scores between different field positions and between players and staff. CONCLUSION: The study showed that high-quality CPR was performed by players and staff of the Denmark men's and women's national football teams following GOAL sessions. As part of the 'Get Trained, Save Lives' campaign, this will hopefully inspire citizens to get CPR trained.