The Buffalo Bills medical team called for all hands on deck as they struggled to save Damar Hamlin’s life after he collapsed on the field.
The defenseman went into cardiac arrest after being hit in the chest by a Cincinnati Bengals receiver during a game at Paycor Stadium on Monday.
After his collapse, a large medical team rushed to save the 24-year-old’s life. As can be seen from the radio traffic, they asked all medical staff for help.
“I don’t like the way he went down,” an unidentified man said on the footage, shortly after thousands of fans watched Hamlin go down at Paycor Stadium and millions more watched from their couches.
Damar Hamlin, 24, collapsed (pictured) in the field on Monday after suffering a cardiac arrest
Audio recordings between medical staff showed the stressful moments after his collapse. “I don’t like the way it went down,” an unidentified man said in the footage
Seconds later, another man declared the situation an “all-call, all-call,” meaning, “We’re going to need everyone.”
“Call me, bring everyone. We all need a respiratory doctor. Bring the cot with the paramedics,” the man said in the footage, according to The New York Times.
It turns out Hamlin had to be resuscitated twice before they “sedated him down just to give him a better chance to just keep healing better,” Hamlin’s uncle, Dorrian Glenn, told CNN.
Hamlin has since woken up and is “alive and breathing”.
His uncle said, “It seems like he’s trending positively up.”
Although the soccer star is currently unable to speak due to a breathing tube, he reportedly wrote down a note asking who won the game.
Other audio recordings showed the desperate moments the medical team had with Hamlin before he was taken to the hospital for further treatment.
At around 9.30pm Monday, a frantic medical staff member asked another to immediately take a CO2 monitor to where Hamlin was stationed, on the doctor’s orders.
‘I need end-tidal CO2 now!’ he can be heard on the recording. The test measures how well a person is breathing.
Moments later, another man declared the situation an “all-call, all-call,” meaning, “We’re going to need everyone.”
Another man reported that surveillance was on the way, but another man doesn’t seem happy with his calm demeanor.
‘Dave, do more!’ he said to the guy.
Another agreed, saying: “Yes you need to step it up.”
Additional records show that Hamlin’s parents were transported to the D-Gate to be taken to the hospital. It was originally thought that his parents were being taken to the ambulance to take their son to the hospital, but it was later reported that they were driving separately.
The ambulance was supposed to leave the stadium immediately, but it didn’t leave until 9:23 p.m. – more than 10 minutes after leaving the field.
The NFL didn’t comment on why the ambulance was delayed, but medical experts suspect the player may have suffered more complications, and staff may have wanted to stabilize him before he took off on a bumpy road.
“Once the pulse is back, you want to transport it as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Glatter, the emergency doctor, The New York Times. “Sometimes they delay transport when a patient has an accident. It may happen that one of the paramedics will hold the driver until he is more stable.”
“Call me, bring everyone. We all need a respiratory doctor. Bring the gurney with the paramedics,’ the man said. The defender is reportedly better after his medical emergency but is currently unable to speak due to a breathing tube
Both Pritts and Dr. William Knight of the University of Cincinnati said the medics’ quick response to Hamlin’s collapse Monday was critical to saving the Pittsburgh’s life.
Doctors were at Hamlin’s side within a minute of his collapse and immediately determined he had no pulse.
“There are injuries that happen in sport, but it’s rare for anything to happen [that] incredibly serious [that quickly]’ Pritts said. “We can’t take credit [the Bills medical] crew enough.’
“It’s been a long and difficult journey over the past three days,” Knight said. ‘[Hamlin] has made quite a remarkable improvement.’
Despite his improvement, it is not clear when Hamlin will have his breathing tube removed.
“Every patient is different,” Knight said. “When the families of the patients ask how long they are being ventilated in the intensive care unit, [we’ll say]as long as it takes.’
Pritts said the “best outcome” would be for Hamlin to go back “to being the person he was before all this happened.”