16 Apr 2026 Adam Ankers · Prevention of Future Deaths report West London
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Concerns raised 5 Insufficient understanding of defibrillator use among lay persons and trained first aid persons View source Insufficient dissemination and mandatory coverage of Sudden Cardiac Arrest training across football leagues, clubs, coaches and referees View source Difficulty among lay people and ambulance call handlers in recognising signs of agonal breathing or cardiac arrest View source Unavailability of cardiac screening for all young people and football players aged 14 and upwards View source Failure of cascade communication of genetic or hereditary diseases to reach family members who need to know View source See 2 more concerns
Actions described in response An action is something this recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised. 3
Action
Provide cardiac screening to more than 35,000 young people annually.
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Action
Invest in machine learning and artificial intelligence to make screening more cost-effective, address specialist ECG interpreter shortages, and increase capacity.
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Action
Continue campaigning for awareness of young sudden cardiac death, heart testing access, and further prevention research.
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AI-generated summary
Adam Ankers · Prevention of Future Deaths report
This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.
Report summary
Adam Ankers suffered a cardiac arrest while playing grassroots football on 31 January 2024 due to a previously unidentified inherited cardiac condition, and died in hospital on 4 February 2024 following brain stem death. Agonal breathing and cardiac arrest were not recognised at the pitch or by the 999 call handler, and an AED was brought to the pitch but not used. The report identified concerns about recognition of agonal breathing and cardiac arrest, access to and use of defibrillators, dissemination of sudden cardiac arrest training, cardiac screening, and cascade communication of inherited disease information.
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× Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Cardiac Risk in the Young; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Insufficient understanding of defibrillator use among lay persons and trained first aid persons
Wider context from the report “POINT C: That there is a need for better understanding of the use of defibrillators particularly by lay persons and trained first aid persons
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Cardiac Risk in the Young; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Insufficient dissemination and mandatory coverage of Sudden Cardiac Arrest training across football leagues, clubs, coaches and referees
Wider context from the report “POINT B: That the Football Association’s Sudden Cardiac Arrest training is not more widely disseminated or mandatory for all FA Accredited and Affiliated leagues and clubs and all grassroots football coaches and referees .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Cardiac Risk in the Young; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Difficulty among lay people and ambulance call handlers in recognising signs of agonal breathing or cardiac arrest
Wider context from the report “POINT A: That there is difficulty in lay people (trained or not) including ambulance call handlers in understanding the signs of agonal breathing or cardiac arrest
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Cardiac Risk in the Young; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Unavailability of cardiac screening for all young people and football players aged 14 and upwards
Wider context from the report “POINT D: That cardiac screening in those aged 14 and upwards reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death and this is not available to all young people or your football players
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Cardiac Risk in the Young; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Failure of cascade communication of genetic or hereditary diseases to reach family members who need to know
Wider context from the report “POINT E: That cascade communication of genetic or hereditary diseases is imperfect and does not reach more than half of those in families that need to know about it .
” Open source report
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Provide cardiac screening to more than 35,000 young people annually.
Verbatim wording from the response “The ECG is the most effective tool available for the early identification of many cardiac conditions associated with young sudden cardiac death. Once a condition is identified, appropriate advice, treatment and clinical management can be provided to significantly reduce the risk of cardiac arrest. CRY currently screens more than 35,000 young people each year and one in every 300 young people screened will be identified with a potentially life-threatening cardiac condition. Demand for screening continues to exceed CRY's current capacity to provide it. To help address this challenge, CRY is investing in machine learning and AI to make screening more cost-effective, address the shortage of specialist ECG interpreters, and help meet current and future demand.” Source location Response from Cardiac Risk in the Young
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Invest in machine learning and artificial intelligence to make screening more cost-effective, address specialist ECG interpreter shortages, and increase capacity.
Verbatim wording from the response “The ECG is the most effective tool available for the early identification of many cardiac conditions associated with young sudden cardiac death. Once a condition is identified, appropriate advice, treatment and clinical management can be provided to significantly reduce the risk of cardiac arrest. CRY currently screens more than 35,000 young people each year and one in every 300 young people screened will be identified with a potentially life-threatening cardiac condition. Demand for screening continues to exceed CRY's current capacity to provide it. To help address this challenge, CRY is investing in machine learning and AI to make screening more cost-effective, address the shortage of specialist ECG interpreters, and help meet current and future demand.” Source location Response from Cardiac Risk in the Young
Open published response
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Continue campaigning for awareness of young sudden cardiac death, heart testing access, and further prevention research.
Verbatim wording from the response “CRY will continue to campaign to raise awareness of young sudden cardiac death, the devastating impact it has on families, and the need for every young person to have the opportunity to have their heart tested, as well as the importance of further research into the causes and prevention of young sudden cardiac death.” Source location Response from Cardiac Risk in the Young
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Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations