A Life-Saving Sports Tech Solution

When a person’s life is on the line, every second matters.

On Sunday, October 17th during a football match between English Premier League Clubs Tottenham and Newcastle, a fan collapsed from a cardiac arrest in the terraces of the St. James Park English football stadium. An off-duty A&E Doctor, Dr. Tom Prichard sitting in the crowd rushed to the aid of the elderly Newcastle supporter and began performing CPR while on-field players alerted their team DR that a defibrillator was needed. The Newcastle team DR Rushed across the field and administered AED shocks, while St. Johns’s paramedics prepared to take the man to the hospital. The initial chest compressions delivered are considered a giant step in saving the man’s life. There is no doubt that the immediate action of Tottenhams’ defender Sergio Reguilón notifying the referee of the situation as well as teammate Eric Dier who ran to seek assistance from club staff and senior sources at the club have confirmed the man is “doing well”.

On a different day in a different stadium, however, this might not have had the happy ending that we experienced yesterday. We need innovation and technology to step in when an error in human judgment could mean life or death. Stadiums as they stand are extremely pressured environments for both security and health professionals. They are loud and dense with many obstacles in the way of getting to a ‘specific’ seat in minimal time. Medical emergencies are not the only use case in stadiums, aggressive behavior, as well as criminal activities such as pitch invasion attempts and chemical flares being thrown onto the field, can be easily detected and relevant teams alerted immediately. In a study, published in the American Heart Association’s journal, researchers claim that without the initial using AED shock therapy (before an ambulance arrives), 70 percent of cardiac arrest patients either died or survived with impaired brain function. Sports Tech startups like XenaVision will forever change the health and safety risks of live events around the globe.

A victim’s chances of survival are reduced by 7 to 10 percent with every minute
that passes without CPR and defibrillation

“Cardiac Arrest,” from the American Heart Association Web site,

In the case of Sunday’s events, Xena Vision would have automatically detected an “extreme” event using its AI crowd behavior analysis technology, in this case specifically the crowd calling for assistance. and alerted local medical persons in real-time. The referee would be notified to put a stop to the game if necessary. Technology like this could potentially save thousands of lives in future sporting events, and the event during Sunday’s game shows why a quick response to medical emergencies should be a priority for all sporting venues to install.

Our system is your voice in the middle of a noisy crowd, when you are unable to ask for help. Early intervention to an emergency saves lives.

Nazli Temur, Founder and CEO of Xena Vision

Learn more about Xena Vision Here

Written By: David Olwyn, Marketing Director at HYPE Sports Innovation.

Special Thanks to, Daniel Rabinowitz for data collection and assistance.