SUTTON, MASS. (WHDH) - As the nation watched in shock as Bills safety Damar Hamlin was rushed to the hospital after going into cardiac arrest on the field during Monday Night Football, a Sutton family knew exactly what as wrong.
John Ellsessar has made it his mission to make sure schools have the tools needed to treat someone who has gone into a cardiac arrest after losing his sons to cardiac episodes.
“Watching last night’s Monday night football with Damar Hamlin collapsing on the field brought back a lot of memories,” Ellsessar said of the Nov. 15, 2010 football game that changed his life forever.
His son, Michael, number 99 for Oxford High School, collapsed on the second play from scrimmage and never got back up after going into cardiac arrest on the field.
“Mike caught a pass, picked up a first down and was tackled. popped up. and after mike tossed the ball to the referee, he collapsed. Just like what happened to Damar Hamlin last night. Right down. Unplugged.”
His sad says they called 911 and started CPR on the field but there was no AED available. An AED, or automated external defibrillator, is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.
“He died on the football field that day. Fifteen minutes without an AED when you’re in cardiac arrest is way too long to survive,” he said,
The couple’s youngest son, Tim, died 5 years later after suffering a cardiac event while swimming.
After working to make sure every school in Massachusetts had an AED, Gov. Baker signed a bill in 2017 requiring every school in Massachusetts to have the life-saving device.
Click Here to donate to their organization or request an AED.
What is cardiac arrest?
Cardiac arrest is caused when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions. The heart stops beating properly. The heart’s pumping function is “arrested,” or stopped. In cardiac arrest, death can result quickly if proper steps aren’t taken immediately. Cardiac arrest may be reversed if CPR is performed and a defibrillator shocks the heart and restores a normal heart rhythm within a few minutes.
It can come on suddenly or in the wake of other symptoms. Cardiac arrest is often fatal if appropriate steps aren’t taken immediately. More than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside a hospital in the U.S. each year.
Is a heart attack the same as cardiac arrest?
No. The term “heart attack” is often mistakenly used to describe cardiac arrest. While a heart attack may cause cardiac arrest, the two aren’t the same.
Another emergency where CPR and/or AED’s might be used is Commotio cordis, or the lethal disruption of heart rhythm that occurs as a result of a blow to the area directly over the heart at a critical time during the cycle of a heartbeat. While rare, this is a condition that could affect anyone playing a contact sport. Commotio cordis occurs mostly in boys and young men (average age 15), usually during sports, often despite a chest protector. Being less developed, the thorax of an adolescent is likely more prone to this injury given the circumstances.
Automated external defibrillators have helped increase the survival rate to 35%.[1] Defibrillation must be started as soon as possible (within 3 minutes) for maximal benefit. Commotio cordis is the leading cause of fatalities in youth baseball in the US, with two to three deaths per year.[10] It has been recommended that “communities and school districts reexamine the need for accessible automatic defibrillators and cardiopulmonary resuscitation-trained coaches at organized sporting events for children.”
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