Pittsford, N.Y. (WBEN) - It was Week 17 of the 2022 NFL season when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the first quarter of a matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals on "Monday Night Football" at Paycor Stadium.
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After making, what appeared to be, a routine tackle of Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins in the open field, Hamlin collapsed to the turf after experiencing commotio cordis, the sudden arrhythmic death caused by a low/mild chest wall impact, or blunt trauma to the heart.
It was the quick actions of the Bills' training staff to administer life-saving CPR before an AED machine was used to restore Hamlin's heartbeat. He was then quickly transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he spent one week in the care of medical personnel before being allowed to return to Buffalo.
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What happened next was a nationwide movement for further awareness of the importance of life-saving CPR.
That initiative continues into the 2023 season, as the Bills have partnered with the American Heart Association over the next five years to help get more people CPR certified in case of a situation where someone needs those life-saving actions. This also includes the education of life-saving CPR for the public, even if it's just the basics in order to help save a life.
For those heading to Bills training camp over the next two weeks, you can get a crash course in life-saving CPR by visiting the "Hands-Only CPR" kiosk in the interactive lot at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford.
"Unfortunately, it was a tragedy that brought together so many individuals," said Michelle Marks-Hook, Development Director for the Buffalo-Niagara Region of the American Heart Association. "We're doing a lot within the communities. This has been great. We're gonna be here all the days, and like we've mentioned, between the two days, we're at about 250 people that have stopped at the booth, and you figure we're here for the next couple weeks, basically, to get us all trained."
The Mobile CPR kiosk at Bills training camp, sponsored by University of Rochester Medicine, is one of just two kiosks of its kind in the entire country. It features a specialized CPR machine that displays technology to provide immediate feedback for participants in their ability to provide high-quality CPR hands-only compressions.
Also on-hand at the CPR kiosk at Bills training camp are portable mannequins that have a clicker that's built in to make sure the compressions are at the right depth. It's all very quick to help people understand the basics of hands-only CPR.
"We've had kids, adults, older people, and it's just been a wonderful experience," said Ann Zimmerman, nurse educator at the Center for Nursing Professional Development at UR Medicine. "They all connect with CPR, as it relates to the situation with Damar Hamlin, so a lot of people are just like, 'We want to learn CPR as well.' It's been very exciting, it's been a lot of fun. If they don't have a long time, they can do the blow up mannequins, or if they have a little bit longer time, they can do the kiosk."
Zimmerman adds the kiosk has a competition going, as it scores participants on their abilities to perform hands-only CPR. Zimmerman says it's a fun and exciting experience for people of all ages.
"A lot of times, individuals, they feel like they can't perform CPR, they're not qualified, they need special training. And really, the training can be as quick as five minutes, if you know how to do hands-only CPR. Once they see how easy it is, there's less apprehension," Zimmerman said. "CPR has been known to save lives. Until an AED is available, that's the best thing you can do to save a life."
For those who tested out the special kiosk at Bills training camp, they feel more confident in their ability to step up and take action if the circumstances ever came up where someone needed life-saving CPR.
"I guess I wouldn't be afraid if I needed to do that," said Bills fan John Williams from Greece. "I've done it here so I have the rhythm, I know what pressure to press. I would be more inclined to give a hand."
As for what he learned the most while using and testing out the hands-only CPR machine was just how hard an individual needs to do compressions to make sure enough blood gets pumping through the heart.
"I think the most concern I had is how hard do you really press somebody's chest? Do you break their ribs or not? It give you an indication of how hard you really do have to press," Williams said.
Williams adds he feels it's pretty cool to have this kind of technology on-hand at training camp, especially given the circumstances surrounding Hamlin and what transpired several months ago in Cincinnati.
"The mannequins they have here now are a lot different than they had," he said. "I think I probably took a CPR course maybe 45 years ago, so it's a lot more [of a] real-life experience."
Zimmerman has been an instructor for the American Heart Association Training Center for more than 10 years, and says every person she has come in touch with through CPR training has been very appreciative. She says seeing citizens taking a keen interest in learning, at least, the basics of CPR means so much to her.
"When I look at somebody and I say, 'You, too, can save a life,' and they're surprised. Then when we show them how easy it is, they're just overjoyed that they now can go and have that skill. And if they were in a situation where there was a person that wasn't responding, they would have an idea of what to do and feel less helpless," Zimmerman said. "By helping them, it gives me the best feeling in the world. So satisfying, and happy there's more-and-more people in our community that are able to provide high-quality CPR."
Zimmerman also feels more of these mobile kiosks need to become available to help further educate more people across the nation.
Marks-Hook says he would love for everyone to get CPR certified, but the hands-only CPR machine, at least, give a chance to empower people to believe they can do their part in a life-saving circumstance.
So what more can people do to learn CPR and get certified?
"They can always go to the American Heart Association, our website, they can type in CPR, they put in their zip code and find a class. If they're in a different location, they can see what's going on in Buffalo, they can see what's going on in Rochester where we're doing different pop ups," Marks-Hook said. "There's a lot of things and resources on the American Heart Association's website just to become more educated on cardiac arrest and cardiac vascular health."
