The FA delivers the first of its kind world leading medical training within Para Football

The Football Association (FA) has announced a ground-breaking para-Advanced Trauma Medical Management in Football Reaccreditation (ParaATMMiF-R) course. This is the first of its kind medical training targeted at responding to trauma incidents within Para football.

The first iteration of this course kicked off at St. George’s Park and brought together 19 current FA physiotherapists and doctors who work across the seven England football Para teams which include: Blind Men’s and Blind Women’s, Deaf Men’s and Deaf Women’s, Cerebral Palsy (Men’s), Partially Sighted (Men’s) and Powerchair (Mixed) teams.

All have already completed their ATMMiF, which is the highest medical qualification that the FA provides and is designed specifically for doctors and physiotherapists responsible for the pre-hospital management of footballers. The Para-ATMMiF is an extension of this learning, with the session involving scenario practice with specific reference and application to how best to respond to trauma situations involving Para-athletes.

Each scenario follows a normal refresher for the ATMMiF but concentrates specifically on the problems faced by Para-athletes that differ from those faced by able-bodied athletes. The cohort at St. George’s Park were taken through these in small groups and guided by members of The FA medical tutor workforce. Groups included a mixture of individuals who work across the different Para teams at varying seniority levels; this fostered an environment of collaborative learning and peer feedback.

Dr. Tom Leggett, participant on the course and team doctor for the Cerebral Palsy team said: “All medics working within football from doctor, physio or sports therapist, will do a pitch side course of a different level with ATMMiF being the highest. But within the current format there’s nothing specific around disability or Para-athletes and a lot of things might not be applicable. That’s why I think it’s so important that The FA are leading the way with this course, for us all to be able to apply our learnings within our day-to-day practices and I hope it sets a trend to improve the healthcare provision around Para-athletes in Para sports.”

The development of this course has been in the works since 2019, with the FA Medical Education team in conjunction with the FA Para Football Medical and Physiotherapy leads, spotting a gap for more specialised training in relation to the England Para teams and how medical staff can be best equipped to respond to emergencies on the pitch within Para football.

St. George’s Park saw the group of Para team medics come together for the pilot of the Para-ATMMiF, but this was just one stage in The FA’s four-year plan. After gathering feedback from the first cohort involved The FA hopes to develop the Para-ATMMiF as a bolt-on to the current ATMMiF qualification, offering it once or twice year. Eventually the vision is a to establish a standalone two-day specific Para-ATMMiF course and there are hopes beyond that to open it up to all governing bodies.

Dr. Lisa Hodgson, FA Medical Education Lead, said: “We’ve put on a one-day refresher for our already qualified ATMMiF staff across our seven Para-squads. This is something we’ve been working on since 2019 and it’s exciting to see it come together – we’re one of the first governing bodies in the world to offer such training and there’s other sports that are interested in partnering with us on developing this further; it’s exciting to be leading the way!

“It’s really important that we establish more courses like this, we should be thinking about the differences because there are differences in treating players across Para football, they all present unique nuances that all medics need to be able to address.”

Dr Osman Ahmed, FA Para Football Physiotherapy Lead, said: “It has been fantastic to be able to share this learning day with all of the Physios and Doctors that work across our Para Football. The FA Medical Team have been brilliant in their approach to the day, and it has been a really rewarding experience to work collaboratively with them to create content that is bespoke to the needs of the players that we work with in our para pathway.

We hope that our para-specific advanced courses will be able to grow in the future to serve a wider audience, with the ultimate aim of benefiting the para players that we work with to deliver world-class medical care to them.”