News: Damar Hamlin Injury thread (Breathing Tube Removed!)

[MarcusRock]

If this man’s career is done, how well will he be compensated by the nfl? I know the toy drive thing is really touching but part of me wonders if some of that money should go direct to him and his family unless the league will give him a big settlement.

Yes, that's my concern too. If he can't play again, donations would be cool for what he'll need to have in place for all the work that will hopefully get him back to a normal life whatever he chooses to do. NFLPA, players, owners, fans, etc.

 

[Risen Star]

 

[Reality]

Rooney also clarified to the outlet that Hamlin needed to be resuscitated only once — at Paycor Stadium. Dorian Glenn, Hamlin's uncle, told CNN on Tuesday night that Hamlin's heart needed to be restarted for a second time.​

 

[Risen Star]

 

[Risen Star]

 

[CWR]

Agreed…most likely a ventricular arrhythmia like VF or VT; the AED will not shock asystole or PEA. Sounds like he is in hypothermia protocol, whereby body temperature is reduced to decrease heart’s oxygen demands and is “proned” out to expand surface area of the lungs to breathe better. He will be sedated and paralyzed in order to keep body temperature down. At the right time Damar’s body temperature will be raised to normal level and he can be weaned off the vent.

As the OP suggested, being resuscitated for 9 minutes, if in fact that was the case, is not a good thing. Even in the ICU that can be problematic.

My prayers go out to him.

Almost 90% of arrest occur outside of the hospital. In Damars case he had ZERO downtime, which is remarkable. I can also tell you it typically is more organized and smoother when worked by medics/first responders. That is likely because there are set roles and protocols. Working an arrest is actually fairly simple. No disrespect to hospital staff, but typically, when those happen, nurses are rushing from other patients and rooms. There are no set roles, and everyone jumps in where they can. It's simply not as organized. Even the equipment isn't as well laid out and ready for use.

Obviously NONE of this is good, but in context it's almost a best case scenario.

 

[Avery]

The fact that it happened on a professional football field surrounded by medical professionals on the field in seconds and within a stone's throw away from a major Trauma 1 facility is the reason he's still here. If this were a high school football game, even some smaller colleges, the added minutes and seconds trying to find an AED or the right tools to even start CPR would likely be fatal.

 

[plymkr]

If this man’s career is done, how well will he be compensated by the nfl? I know the toy drive thing is really touching but part of me wonders if some of that money should go direct to him and his family unless the league will give him a big settlement.

I'm hoping he has some kind of insurance policy that would kick on if he got seriously injured. I know some pro athletes take out insurance policies on themselves, I hope he is one of them.

 

[Reality]

Reminder .. this thread is ONLY about Damar Hamlin!

Posts about the game, rescheduling, the NFL, etc. need to be posted in the NFL Zone thread.

 

[G2]

As a 1st responder, I'm very impressed with how they handled that. In front of millions. I read over 90% in these cases do not make it after 3 minutes of CPR. Those guys were on point.

 

[eromeopolk]

Growing up we use to play this punching game on the arm and the chest. Dumb children doing dumb stuff.

Hamlin injury hurt me and it is a rare occurrence in sports. But it reminds how strong and how vulnerable our bodies are made by God. As he is basically on life support, Hamlin and the medical team is fighting for his life. We need a miracle. I believe but help my unbelief. May God heal and comfort his family.

https://www.healthline.com/health/commotio-cordis
This happening is not as rare as you think. But it is rare in non frequency of the hit. If you get hit at the right time in the chest with frequency, it can likely caused a cardiac arrest. So because you are not getting hit in the chest with repeated frequency to catch the heart in its pulse putting blood back in the heart, it is probably not going to happen. That makes it rare. But do it more frequent and....

15-Year-Old Athlete Dies From Blow to Chest During "Cuss ...
https://apnews.com › ...
Apr 10, 1991 — Edwards died after the punching game in a Tuesday morning science class. He fell to the floor seconds after the punch to the chest by a ...

16-year-old catcher collapses, dies after pitch hits chest ... - CNN
http://www.cnn.com › new.jersey.baseball.death
Dec 9, 2010 — Thomas Adams, 16, was practicing indoors in the gym of Blessed Sacrament School when he was struck by a pitch, stood up and said, "I can't ...

Child died of punch to chest, pathologist testifies in Tavon ...
https://www.bnd.com › local › crime › article101767792
Sep 14, 2016 — Torian Whittaker died because he was struck in the chest at exactly the wrong moment and the wrong angle, according to expert testimony in ...

Normandy HS Student Dies After Punch To Chest | FOX 2

https://fox2now.com › news › normandy-hs-student-die...
Apr 12, 2013 — WELLSTON, MO (KTVI) – A Normandy High School freshman dies after a friend and fellow classmate punches him in the chest.

Man dies after being 'hit in chest in Punch4Punch internet game'
https://www.theguardian.com › uk-news › jul › man-di...
Jul 1, 2014 — A 23-year-old man has died after reportedly playing an internet game that involves people being filmed punching each other.


Boy who died after ball hit his chest mourned - Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com › local › lanow › la-xpm-2013-a...
SAN DIEGO -- Classmates were mourning the death of a student at Ramona High School in northeast San Diego County. He died Wednesday after being hit in the ...
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/02/man-dies-punch-4-punch-internet-game

 

[KMY_Amber]

I have extreme compassion for Hamlin and his family.

But it's utter hypocrisy for players and fans to act "surprised and shocked" when something like this happens. We're paying men to run into each other and tackle each other, repeatedly, for entertainment. And hec, they get paid a lot of money to take all this risk, for our entertainment.

To act like "things should change now" because something tragic has happened is just silly to me. Why should it take something like this happening for us to not have the fear that it could happen? Actually, we're not too surprised it happened, because we have an ambulance and medics already at the stadium, just in case.

So, yes, this is tragic, and I'm glad we're rallying around this player. But to think that the NFL should "change its policies" or alter the sport because of this horrible situation is disingenuous.

If we REALLY cared, we wouldn't encourage with our fandom and money a sport to be played that necessitates an ambulance being at the stadium. We wouldn't support football, boxing, MMA, and a lot of other dangerous sports across the globe. It's the risk they take, and it's what we support.

Other football players have died, race car drivers have died, boxers have died, MMA fighters will die, skiers have died, extreme sports participants have died....it's the price they pay. And we're the ones paying them to take the risk, with our eyeballs, ticket sales, jersey sales, etc.

We move on. We always do. And if we decide that "enough is enough", then why would we continue to support and pay for men (and in some cases, women) to take these risks? Because it's entertaining? Well, then we get what we get. Occasionally, bones will break, brains will frazzle and yes, occasionally, people will die.

What happened to Hamlin was not an "accident", it was by design, Higgins was trying to run through him, to "break the tackle". We love these collisions, as fans. And they love "inflicting punishment" as players.

If we don't have the stomach to handle an occasional tragic incident that we know will occur eventually (hence the ambulance already at the stadium), then we need to rethink our role as fans and their roles as players. Basically, either we do DEEP soul-searching, or just move on...and chalk this up to "just one of those things", a risk they take, and a risk we encourage them to take.

Keeping a good thought for Hamlin. But if all we can offer collectively are "thoughts and prayers", well, then, that's all we need to know: sport for entertainment > life & health

 

[America's Cowboy]

This video is a good explanation of what possibly happened...

 

[Cowboys22]

This video is a good explanation of what possibly happened...

That is certainly the most likely cause but it’s not going to surprise me if we later learn something else contributed, like an undiagnosed condition that he had. I can’t help but think it would happen more often if it was just the force of the hit combined with the exact timing

 

[LysleE]

Almost 90% of arrest occur outside of the hospital. In Damars case he had ZERO downtime, which is remarkable. I can also tell you it typically is more organized and smoother when worked by medics/first responders. That is likely because there are set roles and protocols. Working an arrest is actually fairly simple. No disrespect to hospital staff, but typically, when those happen, nurses are rushing from other patients and rooms. There are no set roles, and everyone jumps in where they can. It's simply not as organized. Even the equipment isn't as well laid out and ready for use.

Obviously NONE of this is good, but in context it's almost a best case scenario.

That’s an interesting statistic about the percentage of cardiac arrests outside of the hospital.
As someone who has worked in multiple ICUs where we run our own codes, I can tell you that prior to every shift there are assigned roles for codes; now that doesn’t stop crowds from congregating, gawking and getting in the way at times, but I think the codes themselves run relatively smooth, most times the MD/NP/PA follow the ACLS algorithms as I imagine they are for EMS. We have multiple crash carts on the unit with defibrillators that can both defibrillate or pace; all the equipment and cardiac drugs are in these carts as well…so airway and central lines can be inserted and drugs pushed. Now other hospitals may not be set-up in this way, so I can only speak from my experience. Good feedback brother.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I’ve read that commitio cordis is unlikely because you should be about to restart the heart and the person should regain normal functions almost immediately. It’s more likely that a blood clot caused this.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Commotio cordis is very rare for his age group. I believe the average age for commotio cordis is around 13 years old. This is because the chest walls for younger people are thinner and not fully developed yet. Football players have very developed and strong chest walls and they have pads for extra protection. Non-projectile commotio cordis is even rarer. One needs a ball or puck travelling at high speeds to cause it. Neither player was travelling at high speed and there was no projectile and it was not a major chest blow. 100 years of football and nothing like this ever occurred from so many much harder hits.

If ventricular arrhythmia happened at impact to his chest, from what I have been reading from some doctors, he almost certainly would not have been able to wrap up and finish the tackle, and then get up, adjust his mask, slap his hands together, and take a step back. Is it possible to have a 5-8 second delay from impact to the start of commotio cordis? I would think it would be more instantaneous.

If it were commotio cordis, the defibrillator should have fixed his heart and there would have been no need to do CPR for 9 minutes.

The best explanation I have heard so far is myocardial scarring leading to high-adrenaline arrhythmia. The myocarditis scarring came alive with the surge of adrenaline just before, during, and after the hit.

I read one article which said some people observed that Hamlin looked a little pale and off before the game. It would be interesting to see what his condition was like before the game. Was he feeling ill? Did he have a virus recently? Was he experiencing any heartburn or chest pains recently? Any, even slight, shortness of breath?

 

[CWR]

That’s an interesting statistic about the percentage of cardiac arrests outside of the hospital.
As someone who has worked in multiple ICUs where we run our own codes, I can tell you that prior to every shift there are assigned roles for codes; now that doesn’t stop crowds from congregating, gawking and getting in the way at times, but I think the codes themselves run relatively smooth, most times the MD/NP/PA follow the ACLS algorithms as I imagine they are for EMS. We have multiple crash carts on the unit with defibrillators that can both defibrillate or pace; all the equipment and cardiac drugs are in these carts as well…so airway and central lines can be inserted and drugs pushed. 6 hospitals may not be set-up in this way, so I can only speak from my experience. Good feedback brother.

Yeah, my experience would be in the ER, and in fairness to them, they may have set roles etc. The problem being those in assigned roles often end up with their own critical pts who they can not get away from. They do have crash carts, but those often aren't checked off as diligently as I'd check off the medic unit. I imagine that is because there are only 2 people assigned to a unit at a time. Meaning you are directly responsible for ensuring your equipment is at the ready. As well as only two people are using the equipment at any time. In the hospital you have so many hands it's easy not to have accountability, and it wouldn't be difficult for a busy nurse to "borrow" certain equipment, and not replace it.

Of course if we call it in and show up with a code in progress, they are typically prepared and ready to go.

It's the sudden arrest while juggling an already full pt load that doesn't seem to go as smoothly.

Far be it from me to be critical, though. No one knows the challenges providers face without having to walk in their shoes. My thoughts are just based on what I've seen over time.

 

[nate dizzle]

I’ve read that commitio cordis is unlikely because you should be about to restart the heart and the person should regain normal functions almost immediately. It’s more likely that a blood clot caused this.

No.

 

[cowboyed]

Growing up we use to play this punching game on the arm and the chest. Dumb children doing dumb stuff.

Hamlin injury hurt me and it is a rare occurrence in sports. But it reminds how strong and how vulnerable our bodies are made by God. As he is basically on life support, Hamlin and the medical team is fighting for his life. We need a miracle. I believe but help my unbelief. May God heal and comfort his family.

https://www.healthline.com/health/commotio-cordis
This happening is not as rare as you think. But it is rare in non frequency of the hit. If you get hit at the right time in the chest with frequency, it can likely caused a cardiac arrest. So because you are not getting hit in the chest with repeated frequency to catch the heart in its pulse putting blood back in the heart, it is probably not going to happen. That makes it rare. But do it more frequent and....

15-Year-Old Athlete Dies From Blow to Chest During "Cuss ...
https://apnews.com › ...
Apr 10, 1991 — Edwards died after the punching game in a Tuesday morning science class. He fell to the floor seconds after the punch to the chest by a ...

16-year-old catcher collapses, dies after pitch hits chest ... - CNN
http://www.cnn.com › new.jersey.baseball.death
Dec 9, 2010 — Thomas Adams, 16, was practicing indoors in the gym of Blessed Sacrament School when he was struck by a pitch, stood up and said, "I can't ...

Child died of punch to chest, pathologist testifies in Tavon ...
https://www.bnd.com › local › crime › article101767792
Sep 14, 2016 — Torian Whittaker died because he was struck in the chest at exactly the wrong moment and the wrong angle, according to expert testimony in ...

Normandy HS Student Dies After Punch To Chest | FOX 2

https://fox2now.com › news › normandy-hs-student-die...
Apr 12, 2013 — WELLSTON, MO (KTVI) – A Normandy High School freshman dies after a friend and fellow classmate punches him in the chest.

Man dies after being 'hit in chest in Punch4Punch internet game'
https://www.theguardian.com › uk-news › jul › man-di...
Jul 1, 2014 — A 23-year-old man has died after reportedly playing an internet game that involves people being filmed punching each other.


Boy who died after ball hit his chest mourned - Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com › local › lanow › la-xpm-2013-a...
SAN DIEGO -- Classmates were mourning the death of a student at Ramona High School in northeast San Diego County. He died Wednesday after being hit in the ...

Blunt force trauma to a vulnerable location in the chest area at the most inopportune heart beating time apparently caused this hugely unfortunate and life threatening injury. Some experts indicate susceptibility to greater injury to blunt force trauma could be a factor but then you have to think that Damar has been playing football likely since high school and college experiencing a lot of physical contact. I think about Damar every day hoping he can overcome this life threatening injury with assistance from skilled health professionals. I am so grateful and proud of those medical emergency responders that came to Damar's aid on the football field.