Since my team (Bears) already achieved everything I was hoping for this year (finding new and interesting ways to disappoint me) and are in position to have the best possible outcome from this season (getting the #1 or #2 pick in the draft), I've been weighing my options for who to pull for in the playoffs. The 49ers are clearly "my" team in the NFC, and I'm probably going to pull for the Bills in the AFC.
I am terrified that someday I may actually have to try and put CPR training to the test. What really got me during my first training was when our instructor said that if any of us do have to use it the most likely scenario is you will be doing it on a family member, so keep that in your mind while you take the course. That really struck me. Imagining doing it on my father or one of my children really brought an edge to the training. It also really scares the **** out of me. First responders are incredible and real world heroes.
What drove me to become an EMT was an aging mother (was 40 when I was born) and having kids. I wanted someone in the family to have some basic information. Knowing the wife would not, I figured it was up to me.
Good for you! Are you part of a voluntary program or do you make a living as an EMT?
I Was. A mixed service. We were so busy that we ended up hiring full time medics. Spent 15 years plus running and just tired out. First solo run was a motorcycle accident.
Well thanks for your time of service as an EMT. I'm not cut out for that line of work and I really appreciate those that step up and do it.
Wait until they tell him how his charity has been doing this week...
Hoping you never have to but if you are ever in that situation, you'll most likely just react then dwell on it later. I haven't had to do CPR on a family member but used an AED once that helped revive an individual. It was a great feeling after the EMTs took over even though the long term prognosis was grim. At least the family was able to say goodbye.
There have been a lot of things that have come out of this. Outrage at the handling by the NFL, the Skip Bayless Tweet, a lot of people learning about heart trauma and high level first response, etc. The most amazing thing is people showing their concern by supporting that charity. The hardest moment of Damar's life is going to give him a chance to impact a lot of other lives with that money, whether he ever suits up for the Bills again or not. Hell, if he never walks again that money will change lives in his name.
I'm not sure I find much fault with how the NFL handled this. The game was officially suspended for the night at 10:05 (about 70 minutes after the injury). I'd put money down that the decision was made before 9:30 when the players started heading back to their locker rooms. Considering that was ~15 minutes after the ambulance left the field and all the conversations up and down the chain of command that needed to take place, it sure doesn't seem like there was a lot of back and forth.
I agree with you. It's a damned if you do, etc. type of situation. I also recognize that while the fundamental idea that life>game is a point most people with a conscience see and accept very quickly, the NFL is a big ship with a lot of momentum to try to redirect quickly when reacting to an unexpectedly massive upset condition. There are SO many people involved in putting on a single NFL game, to your point about the exit staff. Those lines of communication aren't built to move at the speed the questions on Twitter were demanding. There would have been no way to be in front of it enough to satisfy everyone. On top of that, the NFL keeping things in a holding pattern until they were ready to pick a direction did not have any impact on the level of care Damar was receiving. Everything was secondary to that, including getting to a decision point about the rest of the game. Even if it was just notifying of the intent to follow a certain protocol the people giving and receiving those notifications were shocked bystanders like the rest of us trying make sense of what was unfolding.
