COLORADO, USA — The Buffalo Bills said Damar Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field Monday night before he was taken to the hospital. CPR and fast medical treatment are critical in situations where someone goes into cardiac arrest.
Now paramedics in Denver hope people who watched Monday night take the scary situation as an opportunity to learn how to perform CPR.
"If you wait for an ambulance to get there, we’re already losing a lot of time," said Chase Lindquist, a Denver Health paramedic instructor. "Getting compressions as early as possible is by far the most important part."
When emergencies happen, people like Lindquist are ready. He works Broncos and Rockies games every season. At Coors Field, he sits feet away from the players just in case he’s needed.
"I have everything that I could possibly need. I have my entire jump kit, I have my cardiac monitor, I have an AED, I have all of the things that I could possibly need that’s sitting right there in case something happens," said Lindquist.
What Lindquist saw in the middle of Monday Night Football is how quickly CPR was started after Hamlin collapsed. Now he’s asking that more people learn how to perform life-saving CPR skills in case someone needs it when team doctors aren’t just a short jog away.
Denver Health has CPR classes that people in the community can sign up for – find more information here.
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