Abstract
Potential risks for public health incidents, outbreaks, and casualties are inferred at association football events, especially if event organizers have not taken appropriate preventative measures. This review explores the potential risks imposed by mass gathering (MG) football events, with particular emphasis on tools and methodologies to manage the risks of football MG events. Effective planning and implementation of MGs along with the mitigation of risks related to people’s health require special attention to all potential threats, especially in frequent and recurring MG events such as football leagues. The well-being of all participants can be compromised by ignoring a single risk. Healthcare systems should cooperate with all stakeholders and organizations who are involved in MG management and response. Provision of services during MG or a disaster must be performed by trained personnel or entities that have full access to available resources in accessible publicly known locations at the MG event site. Several MG assessment tools were developed worldwide; however, to adapt to the Saudi context, SALEM tool was developed to provide a guide for MG planning and assessment. SALEM assesses the risks of MG events with scores that help to categorize the risk of MG events by offering recommendations for required resources.
Highlights
Public mass gatherings (MGs) carry various health risks and represent a challenging concern for entities providing emergency medical services [1]
Demographics of MG event attendees might influence the degree of potential risk at an MG event, such as age, participants with a history of comorbidities, and co-existing physiological health conditions such as pregnancy
The risk of disaster occurrence during football MG events increases with an excess audience number, events taking place at night, hot or rainy conditions, or in case of expected violence based on event history or advanced medical intelligence [13]
Summary
Public mass gatherings (MGs) carry various health risks and represent a challenging concern for entities providing emergency medical services [1]. The goals of healthcare systems in MG events are to provide services to the attendees, prevent and reduce injuries, prevent and reduce disease infection risks, increase the level of safety among participants, and ensure the sustainability of timely routine and emergent medical care to the general population during the MG event. To reach these objectives, healthcare systems are faced with immense and complicated challenges [7]. The objective of this article is to highlight and evaluate the risks of football MG events, provide a reference standard for regulating events, and minimize health risks through recommended steps to enhance the safety and well-being of participants
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