Here's how medical personnel saved Damar Hamlin's life, enabling Bills safety to ask 'Did we win?'

[milestogo]

In the first quarter of Monday’s game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin took a lowered shoulder to the chest while tackling Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin untangled himself, rose to his feet and adjusted his face mask before falling backward to the turf and laying there limp.

Bills medical staff sprinted from the sideline, assessed Hamlin’s condition and instantly called for the enactment of the NFL’s emergency action plan. An airway management physician and other emergency personnel were at Hamlin’s side in less than a minute, according to Knight, a crucially speedy response since when the heart stops beating, the brain no longer receives oxygen and can suffer significant damage in just minutes.

Knight said that Hamlin “initially had a pulse on the field and then lost it under the nose of the physicians and teams that were with him.” As distraught Bills teammates knelt around Hamlin and fought back tears, the second-year safety received “immediate bystander CPR” meant to imitate the pumping of the heart and restore the flow of blood to vital organs. Medical personnel then successfully shocked Hamlin’s heart back into rhythm using a portable device called an automated external defibrillator. Moments later, Hamlin was taken via stretcher to a waiting ambulance, where Knight says a tube was inserted into his trachea to help him breathe.

Knight and Pritts described the response from the Bills' athletic training staff and independent physicians on site as “really, really outstanding work.” They said other professional sports franchises should study the care that Hamlin received so they’re just as prepared in case of a similar emergency. “We can’t say enough about the quick actions of the Bills' training staff and the physicians who were on the field with getting to him, recognizing that this was a very serious situation and responding and saving his life,” Pritts said.

“And not just saving his life but his neurological functioning,” Knight interjected. “The reason why we’re talking about his recovery of neurologic function is the true critical importance of immediate and good and high quality CPR and immediate access to defibrillation.

Read more: https://sports.yahoo.com/heres-how-medical-personnel-saved-damar-hamlins-life-enabling-bills-safety-to-ask-did-we-win-022233147.html

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Pretty soon after I was well enough I'd be taking those 1st Responders out to a very nice dinner

that's for damn sure.

He seems the kind of dude who'd do that, at a minimum.

[milestogo]

2. First responders who saved Damar Hamlin introduced at today's game:

Link to tweet