COLUMBUS, Ohio — The tragic incident of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest has shed a light on the importance of CPR training, and having athletic trainers and medics ready to support athletes.
Medical professionals say in a matter of seconds, CPR training could save someone’s life.
“The faster you do those compressions, the more impact you're going to have,” says Grandview Heights Fire Chief Greg Eisenacher.
Eisenacher says even if you don’t have training, you should still jump in and do what’s called “Hands On CPR.”
"People are afraid to stop, they don't want to stop, they might think, because I'm not CPR certified, there's nothing I can do,” says Eisenacher. “You don't have to do mouth to mouth, you don't have to have special training. You go up, put your hands on your chest, give it everything you got.”
Chief Eisenache says have someone call 911 immediately, lay the person back, open up their airway and keep your arms locked. Use your body weight to give rapid and consistent compressions.
He says the standard in Central Ohio is to have EMS crews at every high school game to protect players.
Amy Harrison, an athletic trainer and CPR instructor with OhioHealth says there's 100 to 157 cardiac arrests in collegiate sports every year.
“That's the number one killer of athletes,” says Harrison. “We work at the high school day in and day out, covering all of the practices, all of the games, doing basically all of the medical coverage for all of the all of the athletic teams.”
OhioHealth has 180 athletic trainers in 23 counties and almost 90 schools. She says a cardiac arrest isn't uncommon- which is why they have emergency action plans in place, with AED's, automatic external defibrillators on the sidelines and all trainers are trained in CPR.
“So we follow our emergency action plan, we go out there, and the key is to just be there right away, which is why it's important to have an athletic trainer on the sideline, or someone trained in CPR,” says Harrison.
Meanwhile, the football community waits and prays for Hamlin’s recovery.
“There's a lot of concern people and it was a traumatizing incident,” says Thomas Worthington Head Football Coach Mike Peicetti.
He says he’s thankful he has the trained staff in place for incidents like this.
"All of our coaches at the high school are CPR certified. We're blessed to have three trainers on the field on Friday night. We have our squads there, we have a team doctor that's there with us as well,” says Peicetti.
He also says in the past 15 years there have been major improvements to equipment including shoulder pads and helmets.
“We live in an age where anything can happen, you know, you could be walking down the street and get hit by a car tomorrow, you just don't know. It's unfortunate, but I think it's important for all schools to make sure they have the necessary people there,” says Peicetti.