In 2023, it was the year of sudden cardiac death.
Defibrillators: The Need for Availability and Public Awareness
For decades, medical experts and scientists have tried to highlight how to save a life if someone experiences cardiac arrest using a defibrillator.
But the bright lights of an American football stadium may be the key.
How Fire Extinguishers Became Standard
A fire broke out in the basement of Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago on a cold December day in 1956.
The fire went unnoticed for at least 28 minutes, according to the University of Illinois library archive of the event. Windows shattered and wooden staircases of the school exploded. Smoke flooded the unprotected second floor where teachers and children were trapped in their classrooms.
They lost ninety-nine lives.
It is the largest school fire disaster in U.S. history. It led to widespread changes.
Today, installing fire extinguishers is mandatory in all educational buildings. There are no exceptions.
Does the Future of Defibrillators Mirror the Past of Fire Extinguishers?
There are no federal requirements for defibrillators on the sidelines of sports arenas, in schools, businesses, or even federal buildings.
The Good Samaritan Law is the main federal law regarding defibrillators. It encourages people to use CPR or a defibrillator to save someone’s life by granting them legal protection for their efforts.
Much of the discussion at the conference focused on the lack of bystander response in the U.S. compared to countries like Denmark, which celebrates Heart Restart Day every year and has developed an army of volunteer citizen responders. Denmark also has a national registry of defibrillators and regularly conducts advertising campaigns to promote them.
As a result, bystander response to defibrillators in Denmark has steadily increased since the launch of the national registry in 2011, allowing emergency dispatch centers to connect bystanders to the nearest defibrillator.
The Best Technology Cannot Replace Human Response
However, Katie Dente, an impactful social scientist in Toronto, said the challenge goes beyond accessibility.
On the screen at the front of the hall, slides displayed in a loop show the faces of cardiac arrest survivors and their families, including Damar Hamlin standing next to a boy wearing a purple tie.
This boy was Joseph Mangin. He lost his older brother, Matthew Mangin Jr., a Northern Kentucky football player who collapsed during practice in June 2020. Despite having five defibrillators on campus, none of Mangin’s coaches knew where the nearest defibrillator was or how to obtain one.
The slide included the words: “In honor of Matthew Mangin Jr. and the thousands of student-athletes who experienced sudden cardiac arrest without a defibrillator.”
The image faded to black.
Outside the conference hall door, a fire extinguisher hung on the wall.
The nearest defibrillator was 26 floors down.
This article was written by Stephanie Kuzidim, a sports journalist specializing in investigations and health safety for athletes.
You can contact her via email at skuzydym@courier-journal.com or follow her on Twitter @stephkuzy.
Source: https://www.aol.com/since-damar-hamlin-heart-association-120819361.html
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