Introduction

After opening in 1923, Wembley Stadium celebrated its centenary last year. During 2023, the stadium hosted 30 major events, drawing in a crowd of over 2.2 million people. [1] This number of guests coupled with the playing athletes inevitably brings about a variety of medical presentations, ranging from minor cuts to more severe conditions such as cardiac arrest. This blog post will give an overview of the Wembley Stadium Medical team. 

Background

The medical service consists of 200 members, who are grouped into different teams with different roles to give effective cover throughout the stadium. Most first aiders are allocated into rooms located equidistantly around the stadium over its 5 floors. There are multiple roaming teams, led by a doctor or a nurse, that move around within the stadium and surrounding areas, promptly responding to emergency calls made via a radio system. Additionally, there is a dedicated pitchside team responding to on-field emergencies, such as the shoulder dislocation of football player Pedro during the 2020 FA Cup Final. [2] Whenever anyone needs additional review by senior doctors, we transport them to Main Medical, which consists of a ward with multiple bays. For serious emergencies there is an ambulance standing by to transport patients to nearby hospitals such as Northwick Park.

Initial training for this role consisted of a Stadium-specific First Aid course, and after gaining some experience we were allocated a place on the “Emergency Care on Pitchside” training course. To date, I have triaged and initiated an emergency call for one guest that was eventually taken to hospital.

Main Objective

Making the trip to the home of football is a special experience for players and fans and the medical team’s main objective is to serve both of their medical needs. We aim to provide an effective first point of medical care and handle any emergency. 

Challenges Faced and Lessons Learnt

The 2021 EURO’s final between England and Italy unfortunately unfolded as one of the most violent events witnessed. An independent review showed that over 2000 unticketed individuals forced their way into the stadium, with 17 mass security breaches. [3] This was the busiest event to date for our medical team with 131 medical incidents and 8 transfers to hospital. Our medical operations manager, Mark Cutler, believes that a major takeaway from this event is the importance of having a diverse multidisciplinary team with multiple distinct skill-sets, so that we can navigate challenging scenarios with greater ease. Importantly, the team implements a debrief and review after every emergency call so that practices for future emergencies can be refined, leading to improved patient outcomes.

Impact on the Community

In-person sporting events play a vital role in uniting individuals from all backgrounds, providing an opportunity to enjoy a shared experience. The significance of this communal spirit was highlighted during the pandemic, when football fans were not allowed to watch their teams live, and we saw the negative effect this had on their mental health. [4] Furthermore, there is a culture of training medical students and healthcare professionals from local hospitals to become members of the team. This creates a sustainable flow of individuals who want to provide a valuable service to those in need.

Conclusion

Having a robust medical team promotes a safe environment and lets spectators and athletes safely enjoy sporting events at the largest stadium in the United Kingdom. We believe that the strategies used by this medical team can be used at various sporting venues and at grassroot football events to improve the care of both guests and players.

Authors: Mr Dillan Dhanak – University College London Medical School 

Corresponding author email address – dillan.dhanak.20@ucl.ac.uk

Mr Bavin Pathmaraj – University College London Medical School 

Competing Interest: None

Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Mark Cutler for providing us with the statistics regarding the medical team that were used in this article. 

References:

1 – Wembley Stadium delivers more magic moments in Centenary year [online]. 2023. https://www.wembleystadium.com/news/2023/12/23/08/41/Wembley-Stadium-delivers-more-magic-moments-in-Centenary-year (accessed 20 February 2024)

2 – Short J. Pedro injury demonstrates why so many out-of-contract players were reticent to play this summer [online]. 2020. https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/pedro-injury-chelsea-fa-cup-coronavirus-league-one-two-bosman-569320 (accessed 20 February 2024)

3 – Baroness Casey’s independent review into events surrounding the UEFA EURO 2020 Final at Wembley Stadium has been published today [online]. 2021. https://www.thefa.com/news/2021/dec/03/baroness-casey-review-uefa-euro-2020-final-20210312 (accessed 20 February 2024)

4 – Kelner M. COVID-19: Empty football stadiums ‘contributing to depression epidemic’ [online]. 2021. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12202981/covid-19-empty-football-stadiums-contributing-to-depression-epidemic (accessed 20 February 2024)