Even the Fittest Athletes Suffer Cardiac Arrest
When you think of professional athletes, it’s likely you think ‘the pinnacle of human health’. You might think that their pro athlete bodies shield them from illness, disease, and cardiac arrest. However, that is not the case as seen this past weekend when professional soccer player, Christian Eriksen, collapsed on the field and received CPR. If it can happen to an extremely fit midfielder who averages about 7 miles of running a game and is in peak cardiovascular health, it can happen to you or someone you love. Eriksen is stable thanks to his quick acting teammates and medical staff who administered CPR right away. CPR, when administered immediately, can triple a person’s chance of survival. Athletes push themselves further to better their team. Coaches spend hours training their athletes, preparing them to succeed. And parents go above and beyond, even making sacrifices sometimes so their kids can play the sports they love. Success is like baking a cake, you need the hard work, the drills, the conditioning, the mental reps, etc. and if one part is missing your cake is not going to turn out as well as it could. A successful team also calls for the ingredient of CPR training by the athletes, coaches, parents, and officials. Thankfully, that training is free and you get hands-on practice with our app, SMART Certification. You never know when your teammate, player, or child may collapse, but if they do you need to be ready and with SMART Certification you will be. Take 90 minutes, the length of a soccer game to learn CPR. After that, review for 5 minutes periodically as a refresher. Coaches, this could even be incorporated into the warm up routine. Those who’ve done CPR before know it’s quite the workout! You cannot rely on medics and trainers to know CPR because sometimes they may not be around. Athletes may be out playing pick up games or staying late after practice, cases in which medics and trainers won’t be around. You must rely on your teammates to protect you. Learn CPR not just to better your team but to potentially save it. For more info on how cardiac arrest impacts athletes check our latest blog post here.
Source
“Denmark's Christian Eriksen Stable after Collapsing, Receiving CPR in Euro 2020 Game with Finland.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 12 June 2021, www.espn.com/soccer/denmark-den/story/4406805/denmarks-christian-eriksen-collapsesreceives-cpr-as-euro-2020-game-with-finland-postponed.
American Heart Association. “CPR Facts & Stats.” Cpr.heart.org, cpr.heart.org/en/resources/cpr-facts-and-stats.