When Damar Hamlin’s heart stopped last month, a crowd of 65,000 inside Cincinnati’s stadium froze in quiet horror. Nearly 24 million football fans sat stunned in front of their TVs. The Buffalo Bills safety, who collapsed following a tackle, was saved by the fleet-footed action of medical staff. For all its breath-stealing terror, the crisis provided an optimal example — to an unprecedented number of observers — of the “chain of survival,” a series of steps that can keep a person alive until they arrive at a hospital.
Now, first responders and CPR trainers in St. Louis and nationwide are leveraging the attention, offering free instruction and filling social media feeds in an effort to bolster bystander links in the survival chain. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation more than doubles a cardiac arrest victim’s odds of surviving, but only about one in six people are up-to-date on CPR training, according to the American Heart Association.
“People think, ‘I’ll never have to use it. It will never happen to me,'” said Debbie McCabe, a nurse from Crestwood who owns Safety Basics, a mobile CPR instruction business.
Every year, more than 350,000 Americans suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest — the abrupt loss of heart function — and 90% of them die. Four out of five of those happen at home.
In the week following the Jan. 2 Bills game against the Bengals, traffic on the American Heart Association’s website spiked 600%, said Jennifer Jaeger, executive director of the nonprofit’s St. Louis office.
On Tuesday, Hamlin announced a partnership with the heart association, the 3 for Heart Challenge, to encourage people to learn CPR.
“CPR saved my life,” he said in an Instagram announcement. “CPR could easily save your life or someone you love.”
Hamlin is not the only athlete to experience a life-or-death emergency during a game. Three years ago, Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester became unresponsive on the bench and was revived with the aid of teammates and medical staff before being transported to a hospital. The incident spurred the NHL to adjust how it responds to cardiac events, but it didn’t seem to prod everyday folks into seeking out lifesaving skills.
After Hamlin’s collapse, Ready Train Go owner Katie Page heard “rumblings” on social media from other first-aid facilitators. “My feed was on fire,” said Page, who opened the St. Peters storefront in 2011.
Still, January sign-ups were slower this year than in 2022. Self-doubt can be immobilizing, she said: “Sometimes it’s a fear that, even if I have the training, I won’t feel comfortable doing it.”
Certifying organizations such as the heart association and the American Red Cross, which publish guidelines and provide curriculum, have been working for years to ease concerns by streamlining processes and dispelling myths.
Since 2008, hands-only CPR has been promoted as a less-intimidating way to encourage bystanders to try chest compressions — no mouth-to-mouth breathing required — to keep blood flowing through the body. In most situations with adult victims, it’s as effective as traditional CPR.
“Anyone can start learning the technique,” said Jaeger. “You don’t have to be certified.” Even watching an online video can be valuable.
The most important thing to remember: Push hard, and push fast. For an adult, the rate is 100 to 120 compressions per minute, about the beat of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. The heart association created a Spotify playlist of songs that follow that pace.
Close to home Since
Hamlin was shocked back to life, Emergency and Safety Trainers, out of Bonne Terre, Missouri, has received an influx of orders for automated external defibrillators. Owner James Fields, a retired paramedic, can’t keep them in stock.
Fields’ training classes evaporated at the onset of the pandemic and remained sporadic as certification expiration dates were extended. But that’s all changed. Lately, he has been shoehorning appointments into a crowded calendar, though he is not ready to credit any one reason.
Nine out of 10 of his clients come because of job requirements, usually for medical roles, education, child care or coaching.
“Near misses” are a common motivation for participants who aren’t there because of work, said Fields. Parents sign up after a child chokes on a Lego, or a group of friends holds a “CPR-arty” after one of them suffers a heart attack.
“It’s having an incident that hits home,” he said. For some Metro East residents,
that’s happened twice in as many months. Less than three weeks before Hamlin’s fateful tackle, an employee at Edwardsville’s Gateway Commerce Center collapsed. Co-workers called 911 and administered CPR for 12 minutes until paramedics arrived. The man recovered at Anderson Hospital in Maryville and was released a few days later “with no deficiencies,” said James Whiteford, Edwardsville’s fire chief.
The Edwardsville Fire Department and Glen Carbon Fire District decided to partner on a February initiative called “Saving Hearts for Valentines.”
“It seemed like a good time to do something special,” said Whiteford.
Initially, four free CPR classes were scheduled for this month to teach the chain-of-survival basics: quickly recognizing an emergency, calling an ambulance, administering chest compressions and using an AED. Interest was so high, a fifth one has been added.
On Wednesday, 13 people — middle schoolers to retirees — sat at long tables in the Edwardsville community center watching a video, asking questions of firefighter John Gooden and practicing compressions on mannequins.
Rob Landers of Edwardsville last took a CPR class during the pandemic, when it was held online. The soccer coach had forgotten how hard he needed to push to get a light in the dummy’s shoulder to glow green, letting him know he was on track.
It was a team effort for Cherie and Denny Compton of Maryville. Cherie shepherded her husband through the motions after they moved to the floor to get more leverage. “I want him to be able to save me,” she joked.
College freshman Cindy Acheson of Edwardsville brought her brother Andrew, 16, at their mother’s recommendation.
“I’m really glad I came,” said Acheson. “I feel more confident.”
Gooden hopes the urgency does not dissipate after December’s warehouse save and Hamlin’s on-field resuscitation fade into the past. The critical early moments of cardiac distress are often in the hands of regular people.
“Any CPR is better than no CPR,” he told the group. “Your actions can only help.”
Colleen Schrappen • 314-340-8072 @cschrappen on Twitter cschrappen@post-dispatch.com