Local Athletic Trainer Discusses Resources Available For Emergencies During Games

A safety for the Buffalo Bills is in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest during Monday night’s game. A trainer for a local athletics department spoke with News On 6 about the resources they have if a similar situation were to happen.

Tuesday, January 3rd 2023, 5:54 pm

By: Cal Day


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A safety for the Buffalo Bills is in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest and collapsing during Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

A trainer for a local athletics department spoke with News On 6 about the resources they have if a similar situation were to happen.

Doctors and trainers said last night’s game is an example of football being a fun game to watch, but it’s extremely dangerous for players taking the hits.

Medical personnel performed CPR and used a defibrillator on Damar Hamlin before he was taken to a local hospital.

It is unclear what triggered Hamlin to go into cardiac arrest, but Utica Park Clinic sports medicine specialist Dr. Barry Dockery suspects it could be commotio cordis, which is blunt force trauma to the chest that disrupts the heart’s rhythm.

Hamlin collapsed during the game while making a tackle.

“I would consider it to be one of the most rare things you can witness within sports medicine,” said Dockery.

While it is rare, Dockery said team doctors responded quickly, and it’s important for all sports teams to have a similar plan for when things go wrong.

“You prepare for instances like that but you hope that it never happens because whenever someone’s heart has stopped, then they need immediate CPR and then defibrillation,” said Dockery.

Owasso Athletics trainer Zach McGinty said the district has a plan for the unthinkable situation in which something happens to a student athlete.

McGinty said there is a different emergency plan for each of the athletic stadiums. He said the athletics department has automated external defibrillators that are kept in buildings and on the sidelines.

AEDs are something McGinty said every sports medicine team should have. On top of that, schools should have qualified personnel equipped to take over in emergency situations.

“In my opinion, if you have sports then you should have an athletic trainer,” said McGinty. “It’s really not fair to put all of the emergency responsibility on a coach.”

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