Teen Performs CPR on Baseball Field to Save Unconscious Teammate
Source: ABC News
Teen Performs CPR on Baseball Field to Save Unconscious Teammate
By CATHERINE THORBECKE ·Jul 26, 2016, 11:44 AM ET
A Virginia baseball player was saved when his teammate administered CPR moments after he was struck in the chest by a baseball. ... The Manassas baseball team was practicing for the Southeast Regional Tournament on July 14 when the catcher threw the ball and hit Steve Smith directly in the chest, according to Steve's father Tim.
"His heart stopped immediately," Smith said, who is also the team's coach. "When you get struck in the chest and there is about three hundredths of a second in between each heartbeat and basically if you are hit by something in that time, at the right speed, it stops your heart."
Smith said the whole team ran toward his son as he collapsed on the field. ... "When I got to him he was stiff, like his body was trying to breathe but his eyes were rolled back in his head, and he wasn't responding," Smith recalled. "He was basically gone, I guess. He wouldn't wake up, he wouldn't respond. I was shaking him, trying to get him to take a breath. I yelled, 'Does anyone know CPR?'"
That's when Paul Dow, 17, came forward and immediately started performing CPR. Meanwhile, a parent on the sidelines called 911.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-performs-cpr-baseball-field-save-unconscious-teammate/story?id=40887054
Hat tip, WTOP
Here's what happened and why this is of national interest:
The player who was struck experienced an episode of commotio cordis.
is an often lethal disruption of heart rhythm that occurs as a result of a blow to the area directly over the heart (the precordial region), at a critical time during the cycle of a heart beat causing cardiac arrest. It is a form of ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib), not mechanical damage to the heart muscle or surrounding organs, and not the result of heart disease. The fatality rate is about 65%.[citation needed] It can sometimes, but not always, be reversed by defibrillation.
Commotio cordis occurs mostly in boys and young men (average age 15), usually during sports, most often baseball, often despite a chest protector. It is most often caused by a projectile, but can also be caused by the blow of an elbow or other body part. Being less developed, the thorax of an adolescent is likely more prone to this injury given the circumstances.
The phenomenon was confirmed experimentally in the 1930s, with research in anaesthetized rabbits, cats and dogs.
Diagram showing the portion of normal sinus rhythm during which commotio cordis is a risk
March 18, 2004
George Boiardi, 22, Cornell senior and lacrosse player, dies after being struck by ball during game
By Blaine Friedlander *
ITHACA, N.Y. -- George Boiardi, a Cornell University senior student, was struck in the chest with a lacrosse ball late in the fourth quarter of a game against Binghamton University last night (March 17) at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field. He collapsed, and medical personnel tried to revive him on the field. He was rushed to Cayuga Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:44 p.m.
Boiardi, 22, a history major in the College of Arts and Sciences, was a four-year starter and one of the four captains on the varsity lacrosse team.
....
With 2 minutes and 33 seconds remaining in the game, a Binghamton player took a shot at goal, and Boiardi, a defenseman, got in front of the ball to defend the goal. Play was halted when Boiardi collapsed, and all the players knelt on the field while medical personnel worked on their teammate. Cornell athletics training staff, two physicians and emergency medical personnel from the Ithaca Fire Department, Cornell Police and Bangs Ambulance attended to Boiardi and tried to resuscitate him with CPR and defibrillation.
Play was abandoned, and both teams went back to their locker rooms to await news of Boiardi's condition.
Cornell Player Killed in Game
By FRANK LITSKY MAY 23, 2004
....
U.S. Lacrosse, the national governing body, said that since 1983 there had been five confirmed deaths from commotio cordis in college and high school lacrosse. It said that through the years there had been more than 60 such deaths in baseball.
Steve Stenersen, the executive director of U.S. Lacrosse, said his organization was trying to prevent such incidents.
''In kids' competition, we will ban stepping in front of a shot,'' he said. ''We have asked the N.C.A.A. and the national high school federation to penalize any player who does that except for the goalkeeper.
''Goalkeepers at all levels must wear chest protectors, and we're talking to the industry about better chest protectors. We're telling every game site to have an emergency medical response plan and a portable defibrillator.''
The Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation
What can be done? Have an automated external defibrillator (AED) on the sidelines at every game.
Most cases are fatal. Automated external defibrillators have helped increase the survival rate to 35%. Defibrillation must be started as soon as possible (within 3 minutes) for maximal benefit. Commotio cordis is the leading cause of fatalities in youth baseball in the US, with two to three deaths per year. It has been recommended that "communities and school districts reexamine the need for accessible automatic defibrillators and cardiopulmonary resuscitation-trained coaches at organized sporting events for children."
* Blaine Friedlander, Jr., writes for the Washington Post. I think it's the same one:
By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr. May 28
Blaine Friedlander can be reached at [email protected].
