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CNN
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When Buffalo Bills safety Dumar Hamlin collapsed from cardiac arrest earlier this month, help was by his side in less than 10 seconds to administer CPR.
It was neither chance nor luck. Rather, it is the result of careful planning and practice, a detailed choreographic execution performed by medical personnel who attend every National Football League game.
Saving Hamlin’s life was the ultimate test.
“What we want is for our players to be able to get the same care they would have if they were in a hospital or medical facility,” NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills told CNN. That’s what the system is set up for.” Chief Medical Correspondent on Saturday Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Around 30 medical personnel, including orthopedic and trauma specialists, athletic trainers, paramedics and dentists, attend each match. Sills gave CNN a rare behind-the-scenes look at the league’s medical personnel during Saturday’s playoff game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Los Angeles Chargers. It’s about providing a grid of levels of care.
When Hamlin collapsed on January 2nd, speed was of the essence. Studies have found that for a person who experiences cardiac arrest and does not receive CPR, his chances of survival decrease by 7-10% for every minute.
Hamlin’s heart was rebooted on the field. The 24-year-old was discharged last week after being transferred to a hospital in Buffalo after spending more than a week in a hospital in Cincinnati.
Sills said being on the field was likely a factor for Hamlin. Survival is more likely for people who experience cardiac arrest in a hospital. survival rate more than doubled for those who experienced cardiac arrest in
“He was in the emergency room at that moment, so I assume he was being resuscitated,” Sills said.
Hear the medical personnel treating the collapsed Dumar Hamlin
The NFL requires all teams to have an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for all player facilities, including practice fields.
According to Sills, plans are submitted annually by teams and approved by the league as well as the NFL Players Association, the players’ union. The choreography of the medical team is almost automatic when the occurs.
“The EAP received a letter that night,” Sills said. “In that moment, everyone understood what needed to be done, how it needed to be done, and felt comfortable having the equipment to do it.”
These plans include details about ambulance locations, shortest routes to hospitals, medical equipment storage locations, and even radio and hand signals to be used in case of medical incidents.
The teams are all wirelessly connected, but the sounds from the game and the crowd can be overwhelming.
Dr. Kevin Kaplan, Chief Physician for the Jacksonville Jaguars, explains: For example, using both hands to hold the steering wheel indicates the need for a medical cart, and crossing the arms to make an “X” is an all-call to medical personnel.
The home team will send the plans to the visiting team one week before the game. Then, an hour before kick-off for him, the medical teams from both teams meet for a so-called ’60-minute meeting’ to work out the details.
It’s like the NFL version of what happens in hospitals. Before a doctor performs a procedure, the medical team meets for a “timeout” to see who is in charge of what.
Before a football game, they identify the team’s doctors, athletic trainers, and key trauma personnel. This includes an airway specialist who can immediately insert a breathing tube if needed.
In the heat of game day, you need a simple and clear way to identify who can help in an emergency. Any NFL game You’ll see it: a red hat.
Dr. Justin Deaton told Gupta, “That means I’m an emergency doctor, an airway doctor, so even other teams know my role when I come out.” “Once we’re out in the field, I’ll take over and identify if the patient is unconscious or has an airway obstruction.”
Every game, Deaton stands along the 30-yard line, just like his counterparts in other games.
“We’re standardizing locations so everyone knows where the airway doctor is,” says Sills.
It is up to Deaton to decide who will perform CPR if the athlete is not breathing. Deaton may have to intubate a player on the field if his breathing is obstructed and he is unable to breathe on his own. To do so, he has a videoscope and an ultrasound machine to look down into someone’s throat.
If Deaton can’t get his patients to breathe through their mouths, he’s basically ready to operate on site.
“If someone has an obstruction or significant trauma to their face and they can’t get an airway through their mouth, we can make an incision and insert it there,” he told Gupta. We have all the resources you need in.”
The challenge is that they are surrounded by chaos. Not a more controlled environment. emergency department or operating room.
“If you have a larger-than-average person lying flat on the ground, unable to lift to a certain level with additional equipment, and have cameras and other people around them, those are really confounding factors. There is, and that’s what makes it more difficult to manage,” says Deton.
In football, it’s important to anticipate, not just execute in the moment. The same is true for medical personnel.
The NFL includes A certified athletic trainer is on the medical team and acts as a spotter. They are stationed throughout the stadium, including booths that monitor the entire stadium, watching the game in real time, sometimes watching replays over and over again, to spot injuries quickly or that they may have overlooked. They have about 30 different viewing angles at their fingertips.
Sue Stanley Green, one of the athletic trainer spotters assigned to Saturday’s game, said: “We just want to make sure we don’t miss anything.”
Spotters sitting in stadium booths above the field can communicate directly with the bystander medical team and instruct them on plays and possible injuries. It has a line and the ability to stop the game for medical timeouts.
Sills acknowledges that there is always room for improvement and a need to evolve.
In September, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered an apparent head injury during a game against the Bills. He was hit and tripped, but he was allowed back into the game. The incident has brought renewed scrutiny to the NFL and its policies.
The league has since changed its concussion policy. Now, Sills says, “If you see what looks like ataxia on video, you’re done.”
Sills believes the NFL’s practice network is working to keep players safe, and the league is currently reviewing the moment of Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. One side of the story is privacy.
Sills said his teammates formed a “sort of shield” the moment Hamlin fell, limiting Hamlin’s vision.
“I think there are some things we should consider,” Sill said. “Of course, any of us would like privacy in such moments.”
But when faced with a life-saving ordeal on the field, “everything went really well,” said Sills. “It’s always about the right people, the right planning, the right equipment.”
Bob Costas: Hamlin’s collapse doesn’t indict NFL safety
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