The world watched in disbelief as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin fell to the field during a Monday Night Football game. What appeared to be a routine tackle quickly turned into a life-threatening emergency. By that time, his heart had stopped beating – cardiac arrest – a sudden event distinct from a heart attack, which is a blockage of blood flow through the arteries supplying the heart. So it was then that paramedics immediately swarmed to the scene and began a race against time.
Statistics show that cardiac arrest outside of hospitals is a critical situation. More than 300,000 people suffer this condition each year. The survival rate for those who receive bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), like Mr. Hamlin, is only 11.2 percent. If defibrillation is also performed immediately, the survival rate rises to 41 percent. But the most critical factor is time. Experts emphasize that minutes, even seconds, are critical. Dr. William Knigh IV, an emergency medicine and trauma specialist at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC), later reflected, “Even a few extra seconds could have made a difference in the outcome. If a person does not receive CPR within four to six minutes, brain damage can occur, and brain death can occur 10 minutes later. Unfortunately, only 8 percent of cardiac arrest survivors are in good neurological condition; according to Monica Sales of the American Heart Association, most “have some degree of brain damage.”
Once Mr. Hamlin arrives at UCMC, a complex process of “teams of teams” begins. In the first few hours, a trauma patient like him may be physically touched by as many as 50 people, and within the first 24 hours, that number spikes to 100.CT scanner technician Ashleigh Schmeltzer likens this coordinated care to the precision with which the crew of the Indianapolis 500 races a car surrounded.
Hospital EMTs are a highly specialized team. They form a team around the patient with a clear division of labor: an airway specialist (“head doctor”), a team leader (“foot doctor”), respiratory therapists, nurses, and multiple physicians, all working in tandem while a scribe records everything. The patient was moved quickly for a rapid whole-body CT scan. Dr. Mary Mahoney, a professor of radiology, says these scans take only a few minutes but are so precise that they are “like a pair of eyes looking at the body,” and invaluable in pointing the medical team in the right direction by showing critical details such as fluid buildup.
Although Mr. Hamlin’s heart started beating again upon arrival at the ER, he faced a common complication following cardiac arrest: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This condition occurs when fluid leaks from blood vessels and builds up in lung tissue. To help patients with ARDS get much-needed oxygen and improve their chances of survival, doctors have learned a powerful technique: placing the patient face down. This is known as the prone position, and Mr. Hamlin’s uncle, Dorrian Glenn, told us that his nephew was being treated with a prone position ventilator “to try to get his lungs back to full strength” and “to take the pressure off the lungs ” Dr. Amy Makley, medical director of the trauma unit, explained that lying face down shifts the fluid in the lungs, and she said, “We keep patients prone for as long as they need it.” For Mr. Hamlin, that meant lying face down for 16 hours a day and on his back for eight hours a day from the time he entered the ICU until he was taken off the ventilator five days later.
Cooling pads were placed on Mr. Hamlin’s chest and thighs to lower his body temperature to about 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The hope is that lowering the body temperature will help protect the brain by slowing down chemical reactions that can damage injured cells. Since freezing the body causes shivering, which raises the body temperature, the patient must be sedated or paralyzed. Mr. Hamlin has been sedated to tolerate the ventilator and remains frozen until he is able to breathe on his own.
For days, the medical team was baffled by the extent of Mr. Hamlin’s recovery. But just two days after the incident, an important turning point occurred. Mr. Hamlin’s condition improved, and he was able to communicate soberly. To the deep relief and delight of the medical staff, he was able to nod and shake his head, and even wrote on a note pad provided by the nurse, “Did we win?” The famous question. It was a stunning moment, a beacon of hope in the face of the immense difficulties he faced.
Eventually, after a week of cardiac arrest, Mr. Hamlin was discharged from the hospital and secretly returned to Buffalo. Dr. Knight, who accompanied him to the airport, later admitted to being exhausted himself after what he called “the longest week of my career.” The hospital staff credited Mr. Hamlin’s youth and health as factors in his recovery, but equally emphasized their meticulous care and extensive experience in dealing with similar emergencies, having seen an average of five cardiac arrest patients a week.
The cause of Mr. Hamlin’s cardiac arrest remains under investigation. One possible explanation is sudden cardiac death, a rare condition in which a blow to the chest stops the heart during a precise 20-millisecond interval in the heart cycle. However, doctors continue to explore other possibilities, such as underlying heart defects, where the cause sometimes remains unknown. While the staff at UCMC is committed to treating all patients equally, regardless of their status, the enormous public attention that Mr. Hamlin’s case has garnered is unprecedented.
The response from inside and outside the soccer community was immediate and heartfelt. Players from both teams were visibly shaken and emotional on the field, and the NFL and the NFL Players Association provided mental health support across the league. All 32 NFL teams, as well as the league and the NFLPA, changed their social media profile pictures to a unified “Pray for D’Amar” logo featuring his number 3 in a powerful display of solidarity.
This incredible story emphasizes the absolute necessity of rapid, professional medical intervention in cases of sudden cardiac arrest. It emphasizes the importance of public knowledge and training in CPR and defibrillator use to make it possible for anyone to save a life.
When teaching “hands-only” CPR to the public, 100 chest compressions per minute, accompanied by a “keep-alive” rhythm, will hopefully improve outcomes in these critical events. While research to improve cardiac arrest survival rates faces challenges such as limited data and funding, Mr. Hamlin’s experience is a powerful, real-world example of what happens when preparedness meets expertise in the face of the most daunting medical emergencies.
Related posts:
Inside the Hospital Where Damar Hamlin’s Life Was Saved
Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition: What we know about Bills safety’s collapse, cardiac arrest
Damar Hamlin was being treated in the prone position on a ventilator, his uncle said. Here’s why lying face down can help patients recover.
