- Title: Cardiologists weigh in on Hamlin's collapse during NFL game
- Date: 3rd January 2023
- Summary: CINCINNATI, OHIO, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 2, 2023) (REUTERS) (MUTE) IMAGES OF BUFFALO BILLS SAFETY DAMAR HAMLIN AND OTHER PLAYERS DURING BUFFALO BILLS-CINCINNATI BENGALS NFL GAME DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 3, 2023) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. BENJAMIN LEVINE, SPORTS CARDIOLOGIST AT UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER AND NFL MEDICAL ADVISOR, SAYING: "Mr. Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest. That means that his heart stopped for a brief period of time after he had that tackle in the middle of the game."
- Embargoed: 17th January 2023 20:39
- Keywords: AMERICAN ARREST ATTACK BENGALS BILLS BUFFALO CARDIAC CARDIOLOGIST CINCINNATI DEATH DOCTOR FOOTBALL HAMLIN HEART INJURY NFL TV
- Location: CINCINNATI, OHIO, UNITED STATES; DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES; FARMINGTON, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES
- City: CINCINNATI, OHIO, UNITED STATES; DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES; FARMINGTON, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: American Football,North America,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001020303012023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Buffalo Bills said on Tuesday (January 3) that player Damar Hamlin was still in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during Monday's National Football League (NFL) game against the Cincinnati Bengals
The 24-year-old briefly got back on his feet after making a tackle on the Bengals' Tee Higgins in the first quarter, but then fell on his back.
The game in Cincinnati was halted as medical staff quickly attended to him while players from both teams took a knee. Hamlin was given CPR before leaving the field in an ambulance.
"There are a number of things that can cause such events to happen," said Dr. Ben Levine, sports cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center and medical advisor for several sports leagues, including the NFL. "Those include having underlying cardiovascular disease, genetic diseases and things like that. Most professional athletes, especially in the NFL, are highly screened for those conditions before they start. That doesn't mean the screening picks everybody up. It doesn't. There are also are conditions that you can't screen for. One of the ones that you've probably heard bantered around is something called commotio cordis."
“This is a very rare thing," said Dr. Travis Hinson, director of cardiovascular genetics at UConn Health. "I mean, typically less than 30 or 40 people have this. Typically, it's associated with young people less than 20 years old who are playing sports where some kind of blunt trauma to the chest can happen, particularly baseball or lacrosse. It tends to be that a physical, blunt force to the chest that happens in a certain part of the electrical cycle of the heart can induce, you know, a type of abnormal heartbeat that's life-threatening, and the only way to really treat someone in that I mean, a very long way to fix that is with a shock, like a defibrillator."
Although both Dr. Levine and Dr. Hinson agree they can't say for certain Hamlin suffered from commotio cordis, they are certain the medical team's quick actions at Monday night's game helped give Hamlin a fighting chance at survival.
"He had immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and these are the things that if he's going to have a good outcome, these are the things that will save his life," said Dr. Levine. "We recommend in the sports cardiology world that every single school, every college, frankly, even every high school has an IED, an automatic external defibrillator that athletic training staff know where it is and know how to use it, and that they have a plan which they practice in case somebody goes down."
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