Damar Hamlin's Collapse Puts Football Medical Teams Into Spotlight

Damar Hamlin's collapse mid-game Monday meant all hands on deck for the medical team behind the team.

“Usually there'll be about 25 to 30 medical providers at that time, and the core people will be the team physicians for that individual team, which generally involves two orthopedic surgeons and a medical physician,” said Dr. Tim McAdams, the lead physician for the San Francisco 49ers and the President of the NFL Physicians Society or NFLPS.

Since its inception in 1966, the goal of the society has been to provide direction for the medical staff who stand on the sidelines at NFL games.

“We also have unaffiliated neurosurgery or neurology consultants for the head injuries, and then we have paramedics and then we have airway physicians who manage the acute emergencies,” McAdams said.

According to the NFLPS website, the airway management physician provides emergency intubation to severely injured, non-breathing players. The sideline medical staff also includes a dentist to treat dental issues, an ophthalmologist for eye injuries, a radiology technician to take x-rays of injured players and a chiropractor for back and spinal adjustments.

“Basically, we have everything we would need if we were to run a code in our hospital,” McAdams said. “That's good, but it only works well if the team is coordinated and knows how to use that.”

Which is why the work begins long before the game.

“We have preparation that's done with something called the ERP or Emergency Action Plan, and that's done in case there's any type of emergency,” McAdams said. “We have mock emergencies that we practice prior to each season before training camp. Each individual team is responsible for this and signing off by a third-party reviewer that will look at our preparation program.”

The plans are then reviewed before each NFL game.

“Before every game we have a 60-minute meeting in which we discuss these scenarios and talk about who's going to be in charge if there is a code situation,” McAdams said.

Back home in North Texas where football is king, UIL member school districts, like Fort Worth Independent School District follow similar safety protocols.

“At each football game we will have a safety meeting that includes a safety meeting one hour before kickoff,” said Todd Vesely, who serves as the executive director of athletics for Fort Worth ISD. “There are always at least six people, sometimes we have more doctors than that as they do their internships on the sidelines.”

Coaches and band directors are trained to use AEDs as a precaution, but the focus is also on the health of athletes.

“We have a foundation who comes and allows us to offer heart screening to every student that wishes to have that,” Vesely said.

Fort Worth ISD partners with the Cody Stephens Go Big or Go Home Foundation to screen students with an electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG and EKG. The procedure can detect issues in the heart often missed in a standard physical.

The school district also offers free physicals.

“In Fort Worth ISD we do mass physicals, and they have to fill out a medical history form,” said Jason Braud, an athletic trainer at Trimble Technical High School. “In that process, there are cardiac questions.”

Depending on a student’s answer to the cardiac questions, that is when an EKG is recommended.

“The screenings we do with the Stephens Foundation, thankfully, are free,” Braud said. “Some of the screens at schools can cost $20. $20 is a small price for peace of mind.”

An investment Braud said is worth it for the best chance at life.

“If you choose to do it, it needs to be done every two years because the body obviously grows, the heart grows,” Braud said.