'We Can Save Lives': Damar Hamlin's Resuscitation Is a Teachable Moment - Medpage Today

In this exclusive video, Harlan Krumholz, MD, SM, manager of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation astatine Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital successful Connecticut, reflects connected the on-field cardiac apprehension of NFL information Damar Hamlin and the lessons to larn from this melodramatic event.

Krumholz, a cardiologist, is besides the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine and a prof successful the Institution for Social and Policy Studies astatine Yale School of Medicine.

The pursuing is simply a transcript of his remarks:

Hi, I'm Harlan Krumholz from the Yale School of Medicine. I'm a cardiologist, and I was reflecting connected what's happened with Damar Hamlin and each the attraction that this has received, the discussions astir what caused it, whether this was commotio cordis, however it could person been prevented, and what we should bash successful the future.

All these are bully discussions, but I besides thought that 1 of the main messages we should instrumentality distant from this occurrence is that CPR works. CPR simply works.

In the hospital, we're utilized to having cardiac codes and responding to cardiac arrest, but here's a concern connected "Monday Night Football," wherever the satellite was shown what a archetypal responder squad tin do, what laypeople are susceptible of doing successful a concern wherever abruptly and unexpectedly idiosyncratic has a cardiac arrest. And I thought, this is specified a large acquisition accidental for our communities.

We tin deliberation astir our patients, and immoderate patients whitethorn person questions astir this. We tin archer them however important it is for them to larn CPR for their loved ones and radical they know, and to marque definite determination are defibrillators that are successful assorted antithetic places.

But this is besides an accidental for america to speech with our communities. We each unrecorded successful communities that person sporting events and concentrations of radical successful antithetic places. And this, seen by truthful galore people, and past echoed by the quality and by truthful overmuch media, is an acquisition accidental for america to speech to our communities and say, "We tin prevention lives. We tin prevention lives."

This idiosyncratic would person died had it not been for the accelerated response. People moving successful forcefully, meaningfully, to his broadside and opening compressions, opening CPR, basal CPR first, and past getting a defibrillator and shocking him. Now the full satellite tin spot however effectual this elemental method is.

Now successful the aesculapian profession, we're trained routinely successful CPR. We're acceptable to respond; we deliberation this way. But we tin bash adjacent better, due to the fact that the much radical that cognize CPR, the much radical who tin determination guardant erstwhile the infinitesimal requires it and tin prevention a life.

I deliberation often this is 1 of those areas of medicine that's the champion possible. If you tin determination guardant and person idiosyncratic backmost into mean sinus rhythm, you tin bring them backmost to what they were before. You tin not lone prevention a life, but you tin prevention disability. You tin marque it truthful that idiosyncratic tin resume their mean beingness arsenic if that hadn't happened. Then we tin hunt for the underlying causes, and we tin code them and effort to forestall issues successful the future, but it's 1 of the champion things we bash successful medicine.

So, I don't deliberation we should suffer this opportunity. It's specified a teachable moment. So galore radical had their eyes riveted connected that "Monday Night Football" game, and truthful galore radical person heard astir it subsequently.

It's a infinitesimal for america to instrumentality precise overmuch of an advocacy position, pushing for defibrillators successful our communities, pushing for radical to beryllium trained successful CPR, and showing the powerfulness of a accelerated archetypal effect that tin instrumentality idiosyncratic and establish, "Do they not person a pulse? Do I request to bash thing astir that? Should I statesman compressions? Can we get a defibrillator present oregon astatine slightest telephone for assistance truthful idiosyncratic tin travel with a defibrillator?"

This is simply a infinitesimal for each of america successful the aesculapian assemblage to think, yeah, we tin instrumentality this and generalize it to wherever we unrecorded and to effort to marque definite that radical recognize the powerfulness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the powerfulness of elemental actions, and that minutes matter. Minutes, seconds, substance successful these situations. We tin usage this successful our communities to truly marque it truthful that we truly springiness a large propulsion for CPR, and we springiness an accidental for our communities to prevention much lives.

The American Heart Association has a video tutorial for performing due CPR here.