Annual emergency training for medical staff in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 set to be mandatory

14 December 2021 – From now on, the medical staff of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs will have to attend emergency training in sports medicine every season. This will further increase the level of protection for everyone on the pitch in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. The professional clubs approved a motion to this effect at the DFL Members Assembly on Tuesday.

The content of such training includes life-saving action in the event of cardiac arrest with practical aspects such as the use of a defibrillator. Another focus of the training is the recognition and treatment of acute head injuries such as concussion. The spectrum also includes emergency treatment of spinal injuries.

In all cases, quick and correct medical first aid by the clubs’ medical staff is hugely important. In order to assist medical diagnoses, the DFL allows technical aids and electronic communication in the “technical zone” by both coaching benches since the 2018-19 season – this enables faster diagnoses and communication between those treating an injured player and colleagues on the coaching bench, who have access to video of relevant scenes.

The DFL has already offered emergency training in sports medicine on a voluntary basis for some years. The DFL’s “Football Commission” has also spoken out in favour of including emergency training as a mandatory requirement in the Licensing Regulations. A recommendation to this effect was also made by the medical commission of the DFB, in which the DFL is also represented, led by Professor Tim Meyer. Training is to be provided to medical staff present at the matches (physicians, physiotherapists) as well as to people who provide medical care during training.

The DFL Members Assembly also decided to explicitly enshrine the provision of an automated external defibrillator (AED) at the edge of the pitch – already a standard item of medical infrastructure in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 – in the Stadiums and Security Guidelines.