CINCINNATI — January 2 marks one year since the life-changing events that took place at Paycor Stadium during a high-stakes Monday Night Football showdown.
Exactly one year ago, Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after attempting to make a tackle in the first quarter of Buffalo's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"The first thing I remember is that a lot of people were like, 'Oh my gosh, what's going to happen?'" Dr. Justin Benoit said.
Benoit was making the rounds at UC Medical Center's West Chester Hospital when he saw Hamlin collapse, then team medics rushing onto the field to perform CPR.
"I kept thinking, 'He's got a good shot,'" he said.
Viewers and sports analysts panicked as Hamlin was lying on the field, lifeless. Benoit assessed the response from those medics and had a positive take on it.
"Somebody doing bystander CPR doubles to triples the chances of survival," he said.
After that incident, Benoit saw what medical experts dub "the Damar Hamlin effect." The hospital's free "Take 10 Cincinnati" campaign that teaches CPR had six times as many participants. In 2022, they taught 600 people. In 2023, they taught 2,500.
"Absolutely people contact us and say, 'Hey, we saw what happened. How can we do that?'" Benoit said. "That’s a really wonderful thing to come from such a terrible event."
While Take 10 can teach bystanders what to do in (as the title hints at) less than 10 minutes, Benoit showed WCPO 9 how to perform the three C's in less time.
First, check on the person. If they're not speaking or conscious, call 911. Put the phone on speaker and next to the person. More than likely, the dispatcher will then walk you through chest compressions. And you'll want to press hard and fast to the tempo of the Bee Gees' hit song "Staying Alive."
Many people feel like intervening could do more harm than good, but Benoit's mantra is, "Any CPR is better than no CPR." He believes that mindset can save more Ohioans.
"We are below the national average. We don’t do bystander CPR as many times as we should in Ohio," he said. "It’s only about a third of the time somebody has a sudden cardiac arrest that somebody does bystander."
You can request for an instructor to come and teach your colleagues, employees, church members and even teachers for free. Benoit said the class gives people the experience so their first crack at it isn't under pressure.
"When that moment happens, and it probably will happen at some point, you’re ready for it. And the first time you're learning it isn't on the phone with a dispatcher," Benoit said.
After recovering from cardiac arrest, Hamlin traveled the country with the American Heart Association to teach hands-only CPR and distribute AEDs to youth sports organizations. He said he plans to continue the tour in 2024.
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