OWFC upgrades its First Aid provision

4/8/2023

Last year 2 players tragically died on the Algarve whilst taking part in Walking Football activities. As a result of these tragic losses OWFC embarked on a programme to upgrade its first aid structure. We already possessed the usual first aid equipment and had a few members who volunteered their first aid services on an ad hoc basis, but our aim was for 6 members to obtain a recognised first aid qualification. The identified course was a one-day Basic Life Support with AED (defibrillator) course and was delivered at the Lagos Bombeiros station - the course being verified by INEM. All 6 members successfully qualified on 26 April 2023 and have now been issued with their BLS with AED certificates. We have also raised funds to purchase a defibrillator, not only for the walking football section, but for use by our parent club, Clube Desportivo de Odiaxere and the local community. The defibrillator was presented to the club late last year.
Since our formation in 2019 thankfully OWFC has not had to deal with any serious medical emergencies and hopefully this continues. However in the event of an occurrence we are now fully prepared. In order to maintain skill levels the team practice first aid techniques every 3 months.