On Jan. 2, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field after a seemingly innocuous hit. Following a stint in the Intensive Care Unit and a nine-day hospitalization, Hamlin was discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center to the relief of the sports community who rallied around the player.
Many football players were stunned as they watched the healthy young man suffer such a life-threatening medical emergency, including Samford University linebacker Josiah Cotton.
When Cotton first heard about Hamlin’s injury, he admitted that he underestimated the situation until he watched the video for himself. He turned to his teammates to express his shock in the offensive lineman group chat.
“[The players] were just texting back and forth. We were all trying to figure out what’s going on, throwing up our prayers and concerns for Damar Hamlin and his family and friends,” Cotton said. “It was just a scary feeling and a big realization that we can really die on the field.”
For Cotton, Hamlin’s injury served as a stark reminder of the dangers of being an athlete.
“It made me think about the sport I’m playing,” Cotton said. “As athletes and as football players, we all know that we’re risking our lives every time we’re on the field, but we don’t realize how much we’re risking our lives when we’re on the field.”
In light of Hamlin’s injury, the sports community, fans and players alike have started a larger conversation about athletic safety and medical protocol. This conversation has reverberated through every level of sports medicine from high school teams to division one colleges like Samford University.
According to the head football athletic trainer and director of sports medicine at Samford University, Whitely Williams, big injuries like Hamlin’s cause collegiate athletic programs to reevaluate their systems by reaching out to each other to share advice and information.
“To us, that’s not a competition,” Williams said. “[We] want to know how we can make each other better because at the end of the day we all want our athletes to be safe. We all want what is in their best interest.”
At Samford University, the athletic department follows a set of strict medical procedures dictated by both NCAA guidelines and Samford athletic department standards. Emergency medical protocols exist in case a student athlete suffers a severe injury during a game.
Anne Westbrooke-Gay, the director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer of Olympic sports, oversees the creation and implementation of most of Samford’s emergency sports medicine protocols. In accordance to NCAA guidelines, Westbrooke shared that there is a detailed emergency action plan posted at each sports location on campus that explains the emergency procedure and maps out the route emergency services (EMS) will take to arrive at the field/court.
But for sports like football, EMS attends every game along with a team physician, but the athletic trainers are always the first responders with emergency equipment and splint kits at the ready.
If a football player at Samford were to enter cardiac arrest on the field like Hamlin, the first person on the scene would be the athletic trainers an AED, an automated external defibrillator. According to the American Red Cross, an AED that can analyze heart rhythm and restart a heart using an electric shock. Behind the trainers, the team’s physician evaluates the scene and calls EMS if the need arises.
“Athletic trainers are the first ones there. Once you start chest compressions, you don’t stop until somebody is there to provide the next steps,” Westbrooke said. “EMS will take over once they are in the ambulance, but the athletic trainers are always the first ones there.”
According to Williams, this series of events confuses many people.
“It works a little differently than most people believe as far as chain of command,” Williams said. “The athletic trainers are the first chain of command and manage that scene. EMS serves as our backup.”
The department of sports medicine trains extensively with EMS to ensure that they understand all of Samford’s medical protocols, but the Samford athletic trainers have control in emergent injury situations because they are the people most familiar with the intricacies of sports medicine and the specific medical histories of the players.
Although the sports medicine staff are always prepared in case the worst happens, the athletic department believes that constant monitoring of athlete health is key to preventing these injuries. They accomplish this through preliminary health evaluations that inform the medical staff’s decisions throughout the season.
Every Samford athlete is required to report their extensive medical histories to the athletic staff. The medical forms ask a variety of questions relating to personal health, varying from if the player has ever experienced tightness in their chest while exercising or if any member of the player’s family has ever died suddenly. Westbrooke explained that no students are allowed to participate in any capacity until they complete these forms.
“We do that with every athlete, regardless of scholarship, regardless of what sport they are playing. They can’t compete without this,” Westbrooke said. “They’re not even considered a Samford athlete until they fill these [forms] out and see the team physicians.”
In addition to players reporting their medical histories, the athletic department also runs their own preliminary evaluations in order to better serve their athletes during the season. For example, each sports team at Samford is required by NCAA guidelines to implement concussion protocol.
Before the season begins, each student completes cognitive tests and balance exercises. The preseason concussion test results provide a baseline for how the athlete performs when they are healthy. If the athlete is injured during the season and could have a concussion, the player will undergo the same on-field cognitive tests from the beginning of the season, and if they deviate from their baseline, the athletic trainers will be able to identify this as a cause of concern.
Although physician clearance is always required after the implementation of concussion protocol, each athlete experiences concussions differently. For Williams, the ultimate factor that determines if a player is ready to return to the field is what she calls the “return to learn” test. If a player isn’t 100% in the classroom, she doesn’t want them to participate in any practices.
“A big thing for me is that you’re here to get a degree, you’re here to get an education,” Williams said. “When we’re talking about cognitive brain function, you’ve got to be back in class before you’re ever going to touch the field.”
Concussion protocols are required by the NCAA, but Samford also has policies that go beyond what is required. Every Samford athlete completes a cardiac evaluation with an electrocardiogram, EKG, that monitors the electrical signals of the heart. The EKG results are read by Samford’s consultant cardiologist. If there is anything abnormal about the EKG, the cardiologists may call the player in for a full echocardiogram that provides an ultrasound of the heart.
Williams believes that cardiac testing separates Samford from other institutions and greatly improves the ability of the athletic department to serve their athletes.
“I think [the cardiac testing] is an absolutely huge component based on experiences that I’ve had with my own athletes. It’s played a huge role,” Williams said. “Not only is it a key component, but it’s a [life]saver to know that information and have that in your back pocket.”
Each policy and protocol in place at Samford is designed to protect the athletes that come to Samford to live, learn and play. Williams is aware of this responsibility and makes it her duty to advocate for her players at every level.
“I love football. I love it. But at the end of the day, there is a whole life when football is over. We make sure they know that we see them and remind them of the future.” Williams said.
Athletes play every day despite the risk of injuries. For football players like Cotton, harrowing scenes like Hamlin’s injury may increase their trepidation, but it won’t cause them to lose their determination.
“[Hamlin’s injury] made me realize that I can really die on that field and that playing this sport is really dangerous, but my love for it hasn’t changed,” Cotton said. “I will still go out there again and risk my life for it next season. I think the love for it outweighs the risk.”
Editor-in-Chief
