LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Contact sports pose a high-risk for serious injuries at any level. Sam Zuege, who spent 10 years as an athletic trainer with the University of Louisville football team, now works with Norton's Sports Health Services, focusing on injury prevention and training athletes, something that is on the forefront of Americans' minds this week.
The Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during the first quarter of the nationally televised game Monday against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was struck squarely in the chest while making what appeared to be routine tackle of Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin briefly got up and adjusted his facemask before collapsing backward.
In a chilling scene, Hamlin was administered CPR on the field, ESPN reported, while surrounded by teammates, some of them in tears, while they shielded him from public view.
Norton Healthcare contracts with 28 Kentuckiana middle and high schools to provide athletic trainers, including some in Jefferson County Public Schools.
Baptist and UofL Health also contract trainers with JCPS.
Zuege said athletic trainers are not required in every school, but the Kentucky High School Athletic Association requires all coaches to have CPR certification, including the use of an automatic external defibrillator,
"All athletic training is focusing on what we can do for the active individuals," Zuege said. "Just being there as a practitioner to be able to respond to that incident when there's a need, not the if but the when it might occur."
Athletic trainers spend hours preparing for the worst-case scenario, including cardiac arrest events similar to what happened to Hamlin.
"Everything you saw that night was rehearsed previously, as far as what that response was going to be," Zuege said.
But he said almost everyone can have a part in ensuring safety in sports.
"Any parent putting their kind in a sport, any athlete that's going to be active, it's important for them to understand the reactions that need to occur," Zuege said. "Where are the AEDs in the facility so you or I, as a peer, could even respond with that if somebody that was trained, needed it?"
Hamlin spent his first two days in the hospital under sedation. Upon being awakened on Wednesday evening, Hamlin was able to follow commands and grip people’s hands. The breathing tube was removed, the team said Friday, and Hamlin's “neurologic function remains intact.”
To find more information on how and where to become CPR certified, the American Red Cross provides a search engine tool based off location to find certification classes. To access the tool, click here.
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