What You Should Do If Someone Is in Cardiac Arrest
Following Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field collapse on Monday due to cardiac arrest, health officials say hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer the condition every year—triggering questions about what to do if someone experiences the emergency medical condition.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Bills said in a statement that Hamlin is still in critical condition at a Cincinnati hospital but is “showing signs of improvement.” A day before, the organization confirmed he suffered cardiac arrest after his on-field collapse before his heart rhythm was restored.
Between 70 percent to 90 percent of people who go into cardiac arrest in the United States die before they get to a hospital, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some 357,000 Americans suffered cardiac arrest in 2015, while about 209,000 are treated for “in-hospital cardiac arrest” each year, the agency says….