Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK

Private and voluntary organisations · Registered charity

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First report 16 Apr 2026•Latest report 16 Apr 2026

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Reports naming this recipient by issue year.

* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.

Reports: 1
Published responses: 100%
Concerns addressed: 1
Stated actions: 0

Concerns and recipient responses

Statements from Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK linked to the concerns in each report. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

16 Apr2026
West London
Concerns raised5
1. Insufficient understanding of defibrillator use among lay persons and trained first aid persons
2. Insufficient dissemination and mandatory coverage of Sudden Cardiac Arrest training across football leagues, clubs, coaches and referees
3. Difficulty among lay people and ambulance call handlers in recognising signs of agonal breathing or cardiac arrest
1. Unavailability of cardiac screening for all young people and football players aged 14 and upwards
2. Failure of cascade communication of genetic or hereditary diseases to reach family members who need to know
Respondent positions 3
1. Position
  Medical professionals should lead case-by-case cascade communication of genetic or hereditary disease information.
  Redirects responsibility
1. Position
  Lack of medical qualifications prevents commenting on initiatives concerning genetic or hereditary disease cascade communication.
  Unable to act
2. Position
  Genetic or hereditary disease cascade communication falls outside the peer-support charity’s remit.
  Outside remit
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.

Read the report on judiciary.uk
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 Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK; 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 Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK; 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 Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK; 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 Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK; 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 Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK; 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
Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation
Medical professionals should lead case-by-case cascade communication of genetic or hereditary disease information.

Verbatim wording from the response
“We fully understand that our survivor members may have concerns surrounding potential genetic or hereditary disease, however, feel that the cascade of this information should be led by medical professionals at source on a case to case basis.”

Source location
Response from Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Page 1 · response
Published 27 April 2026
Open published response
Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation
Lack of medical qualifications prevents commenting on initiatives concerning genetic or hereditary disease cascade communication.

Verbatim wording from the response
“If required, we could consider any initiative to support POINT E, however do not feel that we are either qualified to comment on such matters, or that it is within our remit as a peer to peer support charity.”

Source location
Response from Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Page 2 · response
Published 27 April 2026
Open published response
Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation
Genetic or hereditary disease cascade communication falls outside the peer-support charity’s remit.

Verbatim wording from the response
“Our group aim focusses on the consequence and recovery from a sudden cardiac arrest and not the cause. Whilst discussions do take place surrounding cause, this is minimal and not the focus or remit off our group.”

Source location
Response from Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Page 1 · response
Published 27 April 2026
Open published response

Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Concerns raised5

Insufficient understanding of defibrillator use among lay persons and trained first aid persons

Insufficient dissemination and mandatory coverage of Sudden Cardiac Arrest training across football leagues, clubs, coaches and referees

Difficulty among lay people and ambulance call handlers in recognising signs of agonal breathing or cardiac arrest

Unavailability of cardiac screening for all young people and football players aged 14 and upwards

Failure of cascade communication of genetic or hereditary diseases to reach family members who need to know

Respondent positions A position is what this recipient says about the concern when it does not describe a specific action.3

Respondent positions 3