AUGUST 5 — The recent death of a 12-year-old footballer who collapsed while participating in an under-12 tournament in Johor Bahru has brought profound sadness across the country. We extend our deepest condolences to the child’s family, teammates, coaches and the wider sporting community affected by this tragedy.

The exact cause of the incident remains under investigation, and it would be irresponsible to speculate. Athletes may collapse for various reasons, including cardiac conditions, heat-related illness, dehydration, respiratory problems and other medical emergencies.

Without attributing this particular tragedy to any specific diagnosis, the incident serves as a painful reminder that sports safety must be strengthened comprehensively.

Sport provides enormous benefits to physical health, mental well-being, discipline and social development. However, every sporting event must also be supported by a robust emergency preparedness system.

The question should not be only who will emerge as champion. Organisers must also ask whether they are genuinely prepared should an athlete suddenly collapse on the field.

Who will recognise a cardiac arrest? Who will immediately begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR? Where is the nearest automated external defibrillator, or AED? How will an ambulance enter the venue? Which hospital will receive the patient?

When these questions are considered only after a tragedy occurs, valuable time has already been lost.

Professional bodies such as the Malaysian Association of Sports Medicine can play an important role in strengthening national sports safety advocacy. By bringing together sports medicine specialists and other professionals, the association can contribute to the development of safety guidelines, improve education on sports-related emergencies and promote best practices for competitions at every level.

Athlete safety begins before the first whistle through a proper pre-participation evaluation, commonly known as PPE.

A PPE should not be viewed merely as an administrative requirement for participation. Its purpose is to identify athletes who may require further assessment based on their medical history, physical examination and individual risk factors.

Warning signs that require attention include chest discomfort during exercise, fainting during physical activity, abnormal palpitations, unusual breathlessness or a family history of sudden death at a young age.

Athletes, parents and coaches must understand that reporting symptoms does not necessarily mean preventing someone from participating in sport. It is about identifying potential risks and protecting lives.

Nevertheless, no screening system can detect every possible medical risk. For this reason, every sporting competition should have a clear and practical sports emergency action plan.

The plan should identify the person responsible for coordinating the response, individuals trained in CPR and AED use, ambulance access routes, the designated referral hospital, emergency communication procedures and the specific roles of everyone involved during an incident.

More importantly, the plan should be tested through simulations before the event begins. Effective preparation involves more than having an ambulance stationed nearby or medical personnel present. Coaches, officials, volunteers, security personnel and venue managers must understand what to do, where to go and whom to contact when an emergency occurs.

In cardiac arrest, every minute matters. Delays in recognising the condition, beginning CPR and using an AED can significantly reduce the likelihood of survival.

CPR and AED training should therefore not be limited to healthcare professionals. Coaches, teachers, team managers, referees, volunteers and parents should also possess basic lifesaving skills.

A person who collapses and is unresponsive with absent or abnormal breathing must be treated as a possible cardiac arrest. Emergency services should be activated immediately, CPR initiated and an AED retrieved as quickly as possible.

Technology can complement this community response.

Through the MyResQ application, nearby community responders may be identified, AED locations can be accessed more quickly and early assistance can be mobilised while awaiting the arrival of professional emergency medical services.

MyResQ is not a replacement for Malaysia’s 999 emergency line or ambulance services. Instead, it is intended to complement the existing emergency response system by accelerating action during the first critical minutes.

The MyResQ initiative has received support from Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as Universiti Malaya Community Engagement Centre (UMCares).

This support has helped expand CPR training, AED mapping and the development of community responder networks. It also demonstrates how locally developed innovation can contribute to stronger emergency preparedness.

Improving sports safety, however, requires the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders.

Strategic engagement among the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Sports Institute, the Malaysian Association of Sports Medicine, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, higher education institutions, sporting associations and civil society organisations is essential.

Such cooperation can expand CPR training, increase public access to AEDs and embed a stronger culture of emergency preparedness throughout Malaysia’s sporting community.

Imagine if every sports complex, school field and community court had an AED that was clearly marked and easily accessible.

Imagine if coaches, teachers, referees, volunteers and parents were trained to perform CPR. Imagine, too, if the location of every registered AED could be rapidly identified through technology such as MyResQ.

These measures would not prevent every medical emergency, but they would substantially improve our readiness to respond and increase the possibility that a life could be saved.

This tragedy should not result only in grief. It should also become a catalyst for meaningful change.

Malaysia needs a more comprehensive sports safety ecosystem built on several essential components: sustained advocacy and education, high-quality pre-participation evaluation, systematic medical planning and emergency coverage, widespread CPR and AED training, and the responsible use of innovations such as MyResQ.

Safety is not solely the responsibility of doctors, paramedics or medical teams. It is a shared responsibility involving everyone within the sporting ecosystem.

When every individual understands his or her role, every organiser plans carefully and every community is prepared to respond, we do more than produce successful athletes. We create a safer sporting environment for every child, family and participant.

In a sports emergency, the first few minutes are not merely a measure of time. They may determine whether a life is lost or successfully saved.

* Dr Mohd Hafyzuddin Md Yusuf is an Emergency Physician at Universiti Malaya, and Dr Ahmad Munawwar Helmi Salim is a Sports Medicine Physician at the National Sports Institute.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.