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I’m sure everyone knows about this by now. I’m not a religious man, but prayers for Damar Hamlin.

This one hit home. As a junior in high school, back in 1971, I had a teammate that died two days after a very similar incident occurred during a football game. I was the player that substituted when he went down.

I sent a PM to ASF about the incident several months ago, asked his opinion if he thought it appropriate if I shared it with the main forum. It's probably not the right time.

Same with me as with Stream Hawk. I'm not a deeply religious person, but my thoughts and prayers go out to Damar Hamiln and his family.

I hope that guy is ok. That is terrible. Sounds like he had a heart attack.

Terrible . Very weird . Guy jumped right up then bang . I hope he’s not dead or brain damaged . Just awful .

Such a surreal reminder how dangerous this sport can be. Plus a heart injury for a 24-yo is wild. Hamlin has a ton of support in his side. Be well.

Reported he has his vitals back and is continuing to be tested and treated . Still critical . Definitely a cardiac arrest . Prayers

Just got up to watch the rest of the game before going to work (I gave up about 5 minutes into the delay, had no idea how bad it was) ... IMO he's lucky it happened during a game with all the medical help readily available. Pistol Pete's heart gave out during a pick-up basketball game, never got it restarted.

Back in the mid 70's, I saw a basketball game where an official suddenly collapsed. He was help to his feet then a few minutes later, collapsed again. This time, they rushed him to a hospital where he died of a heart attack. CPR wasn't widely taught back then. Even ambulance drivers were only there to transport a victim to the hospital.

The first thing I did when I got up was to check for news on Hamlin. When I went to bed last night, they hadn't said that he had suffered a heart attack. There's not much new information other than it was a heart attack and that he's still in critical condition. He's young and obviously in good physical condition, so hopefully he pulls through.

Latest update on Hamlin:

"Update on Damar: His vitals are back to normal and they have put him to sleep to put a breathing tube down his throat," (Jordan) Rooney tweeted. "They are currently running tests. We will provide updates as we have them."

https://twitter.com/jordonr/status/1610 ... -condition

I suppose that's good news.

Here's an explanation by a doctor as to what might have caused Hamilin to go into cardiac arrest, a condition called commotio cordis, Latin for agitation of the heart:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-G9mziXL9w&t

In high school we had 2 guys collide head on at a dead sprint practicing kickoffs . One guy had his face mask broken off and the other went into cardiac arrest . The coaches administered CPR and called for the ambulance . They got the kids heart going right away and he was fine but still …. Scary practice

Hawktawk wrote:In high school we had 2 guys collide head on at a dead sprint practicing kickoffs . One guy had his face mask broken off and the other went into cardiac arrest . The coaches administered CPR and called for the ambulance . They got the kids heart going right away and he was fine but still …. Scary practice

So what year was that? If it was early 70's, it would be unusual for coaches to know CPR as I don't think that they started widespread teaching of it until later in the decade. What most consider to be the birth of the modern paramedic wasn't until 1969.

https://www.jems.com/administration-and ... paramedic/

RiverDog wrote:Latest update on Hamlin:

"Update on Damar: His vitals are back to normal and they have put him to sleep to put a breathing tube down his throat," (Jordan) Rooney tweeted. "They are currently running tests. We will provide updates as we have them."

https://twitter.com/jordonr/status/1610 ... -condition

I suppose that's good news.

Here's an explanation by a doctor as to what might have caused Hamilin to go into cardiac arrest, a condition called commotio cordis, Latin for agitation of the heart:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-G9mziXL9w&t

So it was a freak accident of sports if this is what actually happened. He said milliseconds is the difference between it happening and not.
With all of the medical personnel nearby, I hope Damar keeps all of his cognitive functions at the very least and is able to lead an otherwise normal life.
Such a tragic occurrence for such a young man with so much future ahead of him.

RiverDog wrote:https://www.jems.com/administration-and ... paramedic/

That's an outstanding explanation, thanks.

Here's an optimistic prognosis:

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch ... 9193157759

Thank God for EMT's!

Some good news to report:

Just spoke with Damar Hamlin’s uncle. Damar was originally on 100% oxygen and is now down to 50%. Says the family is hanging in there. He thanked Bills fans, and Bengals fans and asked for continued prayers

https://twitter.com/4JoshReed/status/16 ... _&ref_url=

I'm also hearing that he was put into a medically induced coma to lower his body temperature and the amount of energy needed by his organs so as to allow them to heal, or at least that's my bonehead interpretation of what I heard. I've also heard that he may be in a coma for at least another 24 hours.

In any event, it's beginning to appear like he's going to survive.

Certainly prayers for him, and hoping there is no LT brain damage from this. Really freakish, only about 30 of these a year in the US, typically in children.

TriCitySam wrote:Certainly prayers for him, and hoping there is no LT brain damage from this. Really freakish, only about 30 of these a year in the US, typically in children.

The consensus is that since they started CPR so quickly that he probably doesn't have any brain damage. Everything I've been hearing has been positive.

Lowering body temp also helps to reduce inflammatory processes.

It’s said that he’s on his stomach as well which helps the lungs not pool blood.
According to some heart specialists this will be more of a marathon than a sprint with some setbacks along the way.
But he’s young and exceedingly healthy so he has that on his side.
Let’s hope for a miraculously quick return to health for him.

I feel awful about this kid although I’ve heard there’s very slight improvement in vitals .

But I have a different angle to discuss . I think it’s the first time a game has been called due to injury . I’ve never seen an injury like that . But it’s Wednesday week 18 and the top 3 seeds are up for grabs in the conference . I’ve heard today there is discussion of postponing the Bills Pats game . All kinds of playoff scenarios are affected . Players have incentives on the line .
I am not insensitive to the ugly byproducts of this game , injuries , head trauma etc , hall of fame guys like Dave Duerson and Junior Seau shooting themselves due to CTE.
and now cardiac arrest . But I remember Daryl Stingley. Mike Utley . Dennis Byrd . There’s others . Many many guys going off on a board , in an ambulance . In the 60s a Detroit player died on the field
They always kept playing .

Honestly I don’t know what’s best . I don’t know that kid but gonna guess if he could talk he would say play the damn game . In the late 70s I was building I205 in Portland and a huge windstorm came up
. My contractor shut down . Groves and granite was building piers on the Columbia and kept working . The wind blew over a 400’ tower crane into the river and killed 3 guys . The next morning we were all required to be at work .
Just interesting that we live in a kinder world now but I just don’t know where you draw the line when you’re a pro football player .

Ok everyone kill me . Just sayin

Hawktawk wrote:I feel awful about this kid although I’ve heard there’s very slight improvement in vitals .

But I have a different angle to discuss . I think it’s the first time a game has been called due to injury . I’ve never seen an injury like that . But it’s Wednesday week 18 and the top 3 seeds are up for grabs in the conference . I’ve heard today there is discussion of postponing the Bills Pats game . All kinds of playoff scenarios are affected . Players have incentives on the line .
I am not insensitive to the ugly byproducts of this game , injuries , head trauma etc , hall of fame guys like Dave Duerson and Junior Seau shooting themselves due to CTE.
and now cardiac arrest . But I remember Daryl Stingley. Mike Utley . Dennis Byrd . There’s others . Many many guys going off on a board , in an ambulance . In the 60s a Detroit player died on the field
They always kept playing .

Honestly I don’t know what’s best . I don’t know that kid but gonna guess if he could talk he would say play the damn game . In the late 70s I was building I205 in Portland and a huge windstorm came up
. My contractor shut down . Groves and granite was building piers on the Columbia and kept working . The wind blew over a 400’ tower crane into the river and killed 3 guys . The next morning we were all required to be at work .
Just interesting that we live in a kinder world now but I just don’t know where you draw the line when you’re a pro football player .

Ok everyone kill me . Just sayin

IMO they move everything back a week except for the Super Bowl.

That means that this Saturday and Sunday's games would be moved to next Saturday 1/14 and Sunday1/15. Bills-Bengals would resume from the time play was stopped on this coming Monday, 1/9. The wild card round would start the following weekend, 1/21-22. There would be no bye week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.

They did this once, in 2001 following 9/11. Given how this event has impacted all teams and players, it would give everyone some time off.

Some good news on Hamlin:

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has shown what physicians treating him are calling “remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours,” the team announced Thursday, three days after the player went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field.

While still critically ill, he has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact,” the Bills said in a statement. “His lungs continue to heal and he is making steady progress.”

Bills rookie cornerback Kaiir Elam also posted a message on his Twitter account that said Hamlin “is doing better, awake and showing signs of improvement.”

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2023/jan/0 ... ble-impro/

Good to hear. Hopefully he fully recovers.

One of the concerns was that Hamlin might not have gotten enough oxygen to his brain during his cardiac arrest and that it might have caused permanent brain damage. One of the attending doctors commented that the fact that Hamlin wanting to know who won the Bills-Bengals game means that "all cylinders are firing within his brain."

Breathing tube was removed today and he's been face timing with friends and team mates.

Amazing recovery! This speaks volumes to how excellent his care immediate care was. Can’t recall his name, but the trainer who performed CPR likely saved his life. Also a reminder to always be prepared. AED machines are essential to always have around. We lost one of our coworkers a few years back likely because nobody knew how to use the AED in time.

Yes, fantastic news!

I've had at least 25-30 first aid courses over the years. In WA, there's a law stating that if you supervise X+ number of employees, that you must undergo routine industrial first aid training. Although the people that revived Hamiln were trained paramedics, it's a reminder of how useful knowing how to perform CPR is, that you never know when you might be put in a situation where it could save someone's life.

The team trainers and first responders practice before each game and so when something serious happens they act quickly and without a lot of discussion. It showed by how quickly they got on the field and had all the equipment ready including the AED and worked as a well functioning team. There are also a couple of paramedics on site, but in this case it was the teams (both teams) medical people who acted so quickly that very little if any time was wasted before CPR was started. If this was because of an unknown or undetected condition then it was the best place for Damar to have it happen.

it was the best place for Damar to have it happen

That was my first thought. Now he's flexing and flashing the hart sign facetiming teammates. Good for him!

it was the best place for Damar to have it happen

c_hawkbob wrote:That was my first thought. Now he's flexing and flashing the hart sign facetiming teammates. Good for him!

The only other better place would have been a clinic or hospital...maybe, depending on how quickly they were able to react. Hamlin received almost immediate attention, perhaps quicker than had it happened at a hospital. When the heart goes into cardiac arrest, you literally have just a couple of minutes to get blood flowing. My understanding is that it was the Bills' assistant trainer who first identified that Hamlin's heart had stopped.

I would think it would be a good guess that every other team is drilling harder with this event.
It hits home that it really can happen and is a very serious matter. That tends to focus the practice sessions of the medical staff and hopefully learn from any missteps (if any) and successes that the medical staffs of both teams
experienced. From what we've heard and the results show that this was handled extremely well but when they do a review, there may be some areas where some changes or additional support would be helpful. After all, an unprecedented
occurrence is a chance to learn where any gaps in training are.

NorthHawk wrote:I would think it would be a good guess that every other team is drilling harder with this event.
It hits home that it really can happen and is a very serious matter. That tends to focus the practice sessions of the medical staff and hopefully learn from any missteps (if any) and successes that the medical staffs of both teams
experienced. From what we've heard and the results show that this was handled extremely well but when they do a review, there may be some areas where some changes or additional support would be helpful. After all, an unprecedented
occurrence is a chance to learn where any gaps in training are.

There's a positive to this in that it may motivate others to learn emergency first aid/CPR, for employers to buy an AED, etc.

As a supervisor, I've attended numerous first aid classes over the years, which includes CPR and use of an AED. It covers more than just cardiac arrest, including bleeding control, burn management, coughing/obstructed airways, etc. It's not a bad idea for everyone to attend one of those classes as you never know when you'll need it.

Awesome for Hamlin . Great story .
What’s confusing is the leagues handling of this cancelled game going forward . It sounds like there is a possibility of a neutral site for the AFC Championship and possibly Baltimore will have their seed determiners with a coin flip .

Maybe I’m the idiot here but as Hamlin asked first question “ who won the game “
Exactly . Why not coin flip that contest and move on ?

Everything else stays the same . Have this miracle kid flip it . He’s a winner either way . These are the 2 teams that correctly decided not to play with a guy on life support . This is the ramification. Flip a coin on that game .
Just seems they are overthinking it .

I thought I read that the NFL already had a procedure in place in the event of a game being cancelled. They were to use win %.
But the owners have now changed it mid stream to maybe a coin flip.

Edit:
Here it is.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... lled-game/

Hawktawk wrote:Awesome for Hamlin . Great story .
What’s confusing is the leagues handling of this cancelled game going forward . It sounds like there is a possibility of a neutral site for the AFC Championship and possibly Baltimore will have their seed determiners with a coin flip .

Maybe I’m the idiot here but as Hamlin asked first question “ who won the game “
Exactly . Why not coin flip that contest and move on ?

Everything else stays the same . Have this miracle kid flip it . He’s a winner either way . These are the 2 teams that correctly decided not to play with a guy on life support . This is the ramification. Flip a coin on that game .
Just seems they are overthinking it .

The Bengals were ahead 7-3, had the ball and were driving when Hamlin went down. Deciding the game by a coin flip would be wholly unfair to them as the odds were on their side when the game was stopped. Even declaring it a tie or no contest isn't fair to them, either, but not near as bad as giving them a random loss when they were leading the game.

The only fair way to decide this game is to resume it where play left off. What I would have liked for them to do postpone Week 18 games by one week, let the Bengals and Bills complete their contest this Sunday, then play Week 18 next week, moving the playoffs back one week and eliminating the week between the championship games and the Super Bowl.

I'm glad that they decided to suspend the game, too. It was absolutely the right call.

That's a pretty crappy way to decide that game with a coin flip.

It’s almost as bad as determining the winner of the World Cup by penalty kicks.

NorthHawk wrote:It’s almost as bad as determining the winner of the World Cup by penalty kicks.

Now there's a thought. Let each team's kicker attempt field goals from the 50 yards out. If both kickers make the kick, move them back 5 yards and try again. If they both miss, then move them in 5 yards. Repeat the process until you get one kicker to make a kick and the other one to miss.

Aseahawkfan wrote:That's a pretty crappy way to decide that game with a coin flip.

It’s even worse to penalize a team with more wins .