TAMPA, Fla. — The American Heart Association urges people to learn CPR following Damar Hamlin's collapse during Monday Night Football.
The 24-year-old Buffalo Bills player collapsed after suffering cardiac arrest. He received CPR and immediate medical attention on the football field.
Courtney Burt with the American Heart Association of Tampa Bay said two steps can save a life: Call 9-1-1 and start chest compressions.
Burt said people should push hard and fast as they perform chest compressions.
"When cardiac arrest occurs, the heart has fully stopped, so there's no oxygenated blood getting to any of the internal vital organs in our body," said Burt.
More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in the United States. During cardiac arrest, immediate CPR can double or triple a person's chance of survival.
"70% of cardiac events or cardiac arrest events actually happen in the home, so you're most likely going to be performing it on a loved one," said Burt.
CPR can help keep the heart pumping and blood flowing to vital organs until an electrical shock from a defibrillator restores the heart to a normal heart rhythm.
"The chest compressions are the most critical part of CPR where you want to do a good compression on an adult. It's going to be about 2 inches down into the chest and then allow the chest to rise fully back up so the blood gets out and then just keep doing that until trained medical professionals are there and can take over," said Burt.
Lt. Billy Mayville has worked with Tampa Fire Rescue for more than a decade. He also travels with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a paramedic and medical liaison. He's worked with the Bucs for the past six years.
"Typically, it's myself as a paramedic. We have a team of doctors and the athletic training staff," said Lt. Mayville.
Lt. Mayville said during home and away games, he is ready to assist during a medical emergency.
"As team medics or even myself traveling with the team, we have an emergency action plan as far as how if something were to happen what we would do, where we would go. Typically, every game at home and every game away, we have what we call a medical meeting. It’s where both medical staffs come together, athletic trainers, doctors," said Lt. Mayville.
To learn more about how to perform CPR, click here.
