Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Erie County's Emergency Services Commissioner says it was no surprise to see the full scale medical response to Damar Hamiln following his collapse on field Monday night, as each NFL stadium is required to have a level one trauma unit ready on game day.
Dan Neaverth, Jr. says the Bills spare no expense with regards to the response to an incident similar to what happened on the field in Cincinnati Monday. "They're well prepared for an incident such as what happened on the field for anybody, any of the spectators," says Neaverth. He says Highmark Stadium has two fully staffed emergency rooms, on the north side and the south side. "There's also been cases in instances where they've actually had those type of sudden cardiac events where there's been a positive outcome," notes Neaverth, who adds it's why the stadium is not a bad place to have a bad day health-wise.
Neaverth says there's a full staff and both of the ERs have, not only doctors and nurses, but also assisting staff to be able to help with that. "Then there's the other layers that are involved. The security personnel, Erie County Sheriff's officers and and a lot of the people that are involved that go through emergency response training, if not CPR, certainly what the process is to get definitive care as quickly as possible," explains Neaverth.
Most of the personnel come from UB Emergency Medicine, based at ECMC. "The department utilizes our doctors on the sideline to provide the type of care that you witnessed Monday night. So while the Bills are at home, our doctors are providing that care for the sideline, both visitor and home teams," says Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sam Cloud. He says home teams provide emergency doctors for both sidelines at each game.
Cloud says that is also vital for fans in the stands. "When someone's heart stops, for whatever reason, bystander CPR and an early shock are absolutely critical to getting the heart restored back to its normal function. And so it would appear that that's what occurred (Monday) night. These things are absolutely critical to happen as soon as possible so that you can give the person the best shot and a full recovery," explains Cloud.
Neaverth says the quick response was not surprising. "That's a well orchestrated training that takes place every single year. And then throughout the course of the season, those medical professionals that you saw down on the field, are pretty much there at every single practice, they have that definitive care for the players," adds Neaverth.
Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle in the first quarter of Monday's game, which has since been postponed.
