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Posted
15 minutes ago, Victory Formation said:

Thing that scares me is that he’s been in a medically induced coma for almost a full day now.. Anything beyond that point worries me even further.

Honest question-is this based off of an experience you have had? Are you in the medical field? I only ask because I assume (in my completely unqualified opinion) the docs who are working with him have kept him in a coma this long because that is what will Help him recover best 

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Posted

This event hit very close to home for me as my father died from complications from sudden cardiac arrest over a decade ago.  He was exercising in a gym at a private club with no AED device available and one other person present when he had his "massive heart attack", which is how sudden cardiac arrest is often described.  Paramedics did not arrive on the scene for 20+ minutes, at which point they were able to resuscitate him.  He was in the ICU for almost 4 days and underwent many, if not all of the procedures, discussed in this thread.  There was a period where we just had to wait for his heart and body to unwind from the trauma it had experienced before the various tests could be administered and the results reviewed by the medical team.  We ultimately made the decision to remove him from life support as the doctors determined his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long to function.

 

My father was a very religious/spiritual man who was described by the pastor of his church as the closest person to God he had ever met.  I'm not particularly religious (spiritual, yes) and don't pray often but asked my dad tonight to help Damar get through this.  I look forward to getting some positive news tomorrow.

 

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Posted
7 minutes ago, Haslett_Stomp said:

This event hit very close to home for me as my father died from complications from sudden cardiac arrest over a decade ago.  He was exercising in a gym at a private club with no AED device available and one other person present when he had his "massive heart attack", which is how sudden cardiac arrest is often described.  Paramedics did not arrive on the scene for 20+ minutes, at which point they were able to resuscitate him.  He was in the ICU for almost 4 days and underwent many, if not all of the procedures, discussed in this thread.  There was a period where we just had to wait for his heart and body to unwind from the trauma it had experienced before the various tests could be administered and the results reviewed by the medical team.  We ultimately made the decision to remove him from life support as the doctors determined his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long to function.

 

My father was a very religious/spiritual man who was described by the pastor of his church as the closest person to God he had ever met.  I'm not particularly religious (spiritual, yes) and don't pray often but asked my dad tonight to help Damar get through this.  I look forward to getting some positive news tomorrow.

 


 

Thank you for sharing this. 

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Posted
17 minutes ago, redtail hawk said:

I found an article this morning that actually estimated the forces necessary to provoke the arrhythmia (I'm retired now so lots of time and interest, especially in this young man).  They did work on animal models as well.  Other variables included hardness of the object, position of contact (over the left ventricle was worst), age and I forget the other.  But again, 69 is an extremely low number on which to draw conclusions.  One reason I'm skeptical of the diagnosis was that at autopsy, these patients had no or little damage to the heart muscle.  Why would Damar arrest again without another blow to the chest if that were the mechanism?  There are possible explanations but it begs the question.  Finally, it looks like newer studies show closer to a 60% survival but it's not as simple as averaging the various studies.

I wonder if all these cases how many had expert help to the degree he had in just 2 minutes? 

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Posted
29 minutes ago, DrPJax said:

 

 

There's an article in the Pittsburgh Gazette giving some more information about NFL emergency preparedness (details pertain to the Steelers but the framework is the same for any game.

 

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2023/01/03/nfl-protocols-cardiac-arrest-steelers-acrisure-stadium-damar-hamlin-rayn-shazier/stories/202301030019

 

Quote

The National Football League goes to great lengths to prepare and react to the very situation that occurred Monday night in Cincinnati with Buffalo Bills safety and McKees Rocks native Damar Hamlin, conducting a meeting before every game with the medical and training staff from each team in addition to emergency medical personnel on site and two game officials.

 

The gathering, called the “60 Minute Meeting,” is held an hour before kickoff and is mandatory at every NFL game, according to various medical sources. It specifically deals with what to do if there is a cardiac arrest event on the field, which is what happened with Hamlin in the first quarter of the Bills’ nationally televised game against the Bengals.

 

The meeting identifies which person will handle certain responsibilities in the event of cardiac arrest, including who will attempt to resuscitate the victim and who is responsible for airway management if someone is having an issue with breathing. It also identifies where the ambulance is located in the stadium and how a player is to be loaded into the ambulance.

 

“Every game, every week, every time, this exact scenario is discussed,” said an NFL team medical doctor who attends those meetings and spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We identify who is exactly responsible for what.”

 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Reed83HOF said:

you doubt VERY much, but yet didn't even care to read...

Not sure of your point.   My doubt was that there were not NFL-level doctors, trainers and ADE equipment at the games where individuals in that study died.   Prompt CPR was vital to the 10% that did survive, but that figure would probably be higher if those kids had the same resources at hand that Hamlin did.   

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Posted
16 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Honest question-is this based off of an experience you have had? Are you in the medical field? I only ask because I assume (in my completely unqualified opinion) the docs who are working with him have kept him in a coma this long because that is what will Help him recover best 

You’re right. The induced coma is required when administering hypothermia therapy as well. And they usually wait 24-48 hours before warming the patient and bringing him back to consciousness. That’s when they can better determine any brain or other organ damage that may have been caused by the lack of oxygen. 

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Posted
2 minutes ago, Shake_My_Head said:

Not sure of your point.   My doubt was that there were not NFL-level doctors, trainers and ADE equipment at the games where individuals in that study died.   Prompt CPR was vital to the 10% that did survive, but that figure would probably be higher if those kids had the same resources at hand that Hamlin did.   

 

And to that point - in the more recent study I linked up-thread (the 69 person abstract references 1998 and 1997 papers), survival has improved DRAMATICALLY in more recent years, and the authors attribute this to increased AED availability.

 

In the 10% study, there are indications that in many cases, you are correct.  "34 occurring during organized competitive athletics and 35 that occurred during informal recreational sports at home, school or the playground or during other non-sporting activities."    

 

Organized competitive athletics do not uniformly have doctors or paramedics or even AEDs and people trained to use them, particularly when they involve younger kids, lower levels of competition, or poorer communities.  Informal recreational sports at home or on the playground or during other non-sporting activities almost certainly don't.

Posted
26 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Honest question-is this based off of an experience you have had? Are you in the medical field? I only ask because I assume (in my completely unqualified opinion) the docs who are working with him have kept him in a coma this long because that is what will Help him recover best 

 

As soon as Damar's uncle said that they had to administer CPR AGAIN at the hospital, I think that people SHOULD be concerned if he's still under after over 24 hours. This is out of concern for Damar and medical experience probably has nothing so do with it IMHO

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Posted
3 minutes ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

 

As soon as Damar's uncle said that they had to administer CPR AGAIN at the hospital, I think that people SHOULD be concerned if he's still under after over 24 hours. This is out of concern for Damar and medical experience probably has nothing so do with it IMHO

Also, to note. If he is intubated he is under a medical coma. People forget or don't know that. 

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Posted (edited)

Looking through the top donations on his Go Fund Me page I was struck by several donors with Fantasy Football League in their names, all donations of at least $1,000. Presumably all the members of those leagues, maybe because their championship matchup was disrupted by the game's postponement, decided to take the whole pot and donate it to Hamlin's foundation right at the end of their season. For some reason this is really sticking with me, even moreso than all the NFL players, coaches, etc. listed as donors. The way this injury has affected every single person that pays attention to sports at some level.

 

Edited by HappyDays
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Posted
3 minutes ago, wppete said:

Pretty shocking news from his uncle says the doctors had to resuscitate him twice. Once on the field and once at the hospital. Praying 🙏 for Damar! 

 

https://rumble.com/v23steo-damar-hamlins-uncle-gives-an-update-says-they-had-to-resuscitate-him-twice.html

 

From my understanding, it was when he first was administered into the hospital.  

 

Then they intubated him and put him in a coma.  

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Posted
Just now, CaliBills said:

 

From my understanding, it was when he first was administered into the hospital.  

 

Then they intubated him and put him in a coma.  


So scary. Just wish he makes a full recovery soon. 

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Posted (edited)
20 minutes ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

 

As soon as Damar's uncle said that they had to administer CPR AGAIN at the hospital, I think that people SHOULD be concerned if he's still under after over 24 hours. This is out of concern for Damar and medical experience probably has nothing so do with it IMHO

 

With all respect - I think we should back away from the speculation and the opinions about the meaningful nature of 24 hrs on a ventilator.

 

First of all, we don't know that Damar in fact had commotio cardis.  Physicians are speculating that this is the cause of his cardiac arrest, but most also note that it is not a certainty.  For example NYTimes article linked up thread:

Quote

Dr. Aaron Baggish, a sports cardiologist at Harvard Medical School who has worked with the New England Patriots, cautions that, while a blow to the chest “is definitely a front-runner” to explain what occurred on Monday, “it is premature to be definite.” Mr. Hamlin, he said, will most likely undergo extensive testing to be sure there was no other cause.

There are other causes, some discussed in this thread.  It's also up to testing to rule out a heart attack, where cardiac arrest is caused by blockage.  It's rare in a young guy, but it does happen, and commotio cardis is rare, too.

 

Dr. Michael Mack, the chairman of cardiovascular services at Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas pointed out:

Quote

If a patient in cardiac arrest does not recover right away, doctors will often induce a coma to give the brain a chance to rest, Dr. Mack said. Sometimes doctors also cool the brain to slow its metabolism while it recovers, using cooling blankets — which have coils that circulate chilled water — and headpieces.

“The more concern there is about brain injury, the more aggressive doctors are about sedation and hypothermia,” Dr. Mack added. If Mr. Hamlin remains unconscious from 72 to 96 hours after his cardiac arrest, “there is a real concern,” Dr. Mack said.

Note that this guy, a physician and the actual chairman of cardiovascular services at a major medical center in Dallas, cites 72-96 hours post-trauma as a period where "real concern" is warranted - not 24 hrs. 

 

He notes that comas may be induced to improve recovery.  If Damar Hamlin was sedated and is being treated with the hypothermia protocols several linked up thread, drugs and not his injury are controlling how long he's under, and they may not even be trying to bring him out until tomorrow or Thurs.

 

I don't put this out here to be a smart ass, but to counter manufactured deadlines of concern like "people SHOULD be concerned if he's still under after over 24 hrs".  We aren't his medical professionals.  We aren't treating him.  Obviously it's optimal if he's conscious and waving as he gets loaded into the ambulance, but he wasn't.  That being the case, his medical team is probably concerned about minimizing brain injury. 

 

It follows that when to be concerned depends on the treatment being administered and the expected course of treatment.

 

 

Edited by Beck Water
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Posted
44 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Honest question-is this based off of an experience you have had? Are you in the medical field? I only ask because I assume (in my completely unqualified opinion) the docs who are working with him have kept him in a coma this long because that is what will Help him recover best 

It’s the standard procedure for situations involving cardiac arrest…they ease the patient into resuming normal brain activity. 

This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a very specific reason to revive this one.

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