Medic Jean-Claude Tardif says he’s concerned Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin is still in critical condition several hours after suffering a cardiac arrest in Cincinnati last night.
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In an interview with QUB Radio, the director of the Montreal Heart Institute Research Center and professor of medicine at the University of Montreal described the situation as unusual. “Theoretically, his heart has returned to normal. So we should have expected him to feel good. More than 12 hours after the accident we should not hear that he is still in critical condition. One wonders if he had a contused heart or some other problem, such as an undiscovered birth defect, that led to this sudden death.
The latter mentioned that these types of incidents do not occur very often in athletes and that Mr Hamlin’s case was different from the others. “When we talk about sudden death in young people, it’s often congenital heart defects or people with narrowed heart valves. I don’t think that’s the case with this player.”
Although he was not there, Mr Tardif believes the athlete likely suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. “It happens when there is trauma in the chest. We see this more often when a person receives a projectile such as a baseball or hockey puck. “The other possibility that could explain what happened is a heart contusion, thinks Mr Tardif, but recalls being particularly pro-fatal for arrhythmias.
Anyone can trade
Emergency room physician at the Montreal Heart Institute’s Department of Emergency Medicine, Alain Vadeboncoeur, believes anyone can intervene when they see a person going into cardiac arrest. He mentions that the person performing cardiac massage and administering a shock are two life-saving measures.
The medical professional clarified that ventilation is no longer required for the general public as cardiac massage itself creates an oxygen supply as there is some air movement. “If a person sees a person lose consciousness, they need to call for help, call for help and the defibrillator, and start cardiac massage.”
Mr Vadeboncoeur explains that a citizen must first recognize that the person has suffered cardiac arrest. According to him, someone who falls suddenly for no reason usually goes into cardiac arrest due to cardiac arrhythmias. “You have to go up to the person and stimulate them by trying to pinch them or hit them on the sternum a little. Someone in cardiac arrest does not wake up from the pacing and breathes heavily or does not breathe at all. These factors are enough to conclude that cardiac massage is necessary.”
Alain Vadeboncoeur stressed that using a defibrillator is easy. “Usually these are talking devices. So they will say undress the patient and attach the electrodes. The device will even tell us to massage once the shock has been given. Even an untrained teenager can handle it.”
Knowing that we have no way of knowing how a person will react in an emergency situation, Dr. Vadeboncoeur that exercise is the best way to deal with this type of event. “There are formations for a reason. If the gestures are practiced repeatedly on a dummy, it becomes automatic. However, bad technique is better than none at all.”