Talk on sudden death in sport and young people to take place in Warrington (From Warrington Guardian)
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Talk on sudden death in sport and young people to take place in Warrington
1:22pm Friday 25th May 2012 in News
Dr Derick Todd
ONE of the region’s leading experts on sudden death of young people with heart problems says defibrillators are the best option for stopping more tragedies.
Dr Derick Todd, who lives in Warrington, is a consultant cardiologist at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital – the regions’ specialist hospital for treating people who suffer heart attacks.
In the wake of the Fabrice Muamba collapse and the death of seven-year-old Ciaran Geddes from Locking Stumps, he is backing a campaign to get more defibrillators into schools and leisure centres.
On Wednesday he will give a talk at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on ‘sudden cardiac death in sport and in young people’.
As a coach of the Appleton Juniors football side, he is encouraging amateur coaches to come along.
He said: “This is something that is obviously high profile in the media at the moment.
“Defibrillators can make a difference – they get the heart beating again.
“We saw with the Muamba incident that the machine was brought onto the pitch quickly and he was treated quickly, “A few weeks later a player in Italy collapse, there was no defibrillator and he sadly died.
“If you can get the treatment early, you have a chance of recovery.”
He said while screening can be useful, the cost and the difficulties of implementing it on a large scale, made the defibrillator a much more viable option.
He added: “We do some screening but for us, we are busy dealing with patients who need treatment.
“And Muamba had been screened so it does not necessarily work.
“I have treated children with cardiac arrests after playing football but it is very rare.
“I always say if you put a defibrillator in a school, the most likely person to use it is a teacher. Because most heart attacks still come from a narrowing of the arteries through age.
“But they can be used for young people too.”
The talk starts at 7pm at the Omega Access North and Platinum Lounge at the stadium on Wednesday.
