Emergency First Aid at the games

Submitted by UMdad on

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110915/SPORTS0201/109150439/1131/sports0201/Fans-help-save-heart-attack-victim-during-Michigan-game

 

For the most part, we take for granted the service provided by the volunteers of the Red Cross First Aid Support Team at University of Michigan sporting events and activities around Ann Arbor, as well as the local EMS.  For what it is worth, here is a quick thank you for those who participate with the American Red Cross, for those of you who serve in other EMS capacities, to the University of Michigan hospital staff and to the bystanders who thought enough to get CPR and first aid training. 

bluebyyou

September 15th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^

Did we know he was a Notre Dame fan before performing CPR?

Seriously, emergency life savings skills are great to know.  My wife made me take the course when we first had kids, just in case.

His Dudeness

September 15th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^

I was a few rows up and to the right of this guy. Could barely see what was going on, but saw chest compressions and figured it wasn't good. Glad the guy pulled through. Weird that it happened in the first quarter and not the fourth though.

Brhino

September 15th, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^

Glad he recovered, remembered reading on here earlier in the week from people that saw him collapse.  Can't believe he watched the ending of the game... he's lucky that didn't put him right back into cardiac arrest.

BigTex

September 15th, 2011 at 1:37 PM ^

As noted by a few others on this board, I was about 10 feet from this whole incident.  Initially, we thought there was a fight between a ND fan and Michigan fan by the way everyone was acting, but then we saw the man lying on the row of seats.  While it seemed like an eternity at the time (since the guy was clearly unconscious), the emergency staff were there quickly, took control of the situation, and got him out of there fast.

It was very scary and surreal to watch (and somewhat odd as fans all over were cheering as DRob and Junior just scored our first TD of the night).  The fan who was performing CPR did an amazing job of staying cool and doing what needed to be done.

As there was no good way to find out how the guy was doing after the fact, it was a great relief to see the article and hear the guy is doing well.

Thanks for posting.  This is some good closure on an amazing night that I'll never forget.

GO BLUE!!

Beavis

September 15th, 2011 at 1:49 PM ^

Was this around the north end zone, close to Section 36 or so?  If so, I saw some EMTs running down the stairs but couldn't get a view of what was going on.  Glad to know the man is OK.

dlcase1708

September 15th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^

That's exactly what I was thinking. Wouldn't it be in the news more if there were actually 3 deaths per game? I feel like that would be huge to the news outlets around here.

Alton

September 15th, 2011 at 2:52 PM ^

In the US, 838 people out of 100,000 die every year, or about 2.2 out of 100,000 dying per day, or about 0.3 dying in a 3.5-hour period.  The person saying that the death rate at Michigan Stadium is 10 times higher than the national average is obviously wrong.  I don't even think that a full season of 8 games would see 3 deaths.

I might buy it if you told me that 3 people have died at Michigan Stadium throughout its history.  That seems pretty reasonable, I think.

 

kamkazemoose

September 15th, 2011 at 3:51 PM ^

I think those statistics just don't fit the model of people at the stadium. I'm assuming that the 100,000 is a random sample of the US population, in that case you will have different proportions of ages/genders/health than you will at the Big House, attending a football game. The 100,000 also probably include the very elderly, people in comas, or otherwise on their deathbed. I'm guessing that there aren't a lot of people on life support in the Big House. Also,I think those statistics just don't fit the model of people at the stadium. I'm assuming that the 100,000 is a random sample of the US population, in that case you will have different proportions of ages/genders/health than you will at the Big House, attending a football game. The 100,000 also probably include the very elderly, people in comas, or otherwise on their deathbed. I'm guessing that there aren't a lot of people on life support in the Big House. Also the death count is probably counting people who die from accidents, like car crashes, or some industrial accident or whatever. I think something like that is much less likely to happen in the stadium.

On the flip side, going to a football game can be more exerting than the average experience for a person in the sample 100,000. It is outdoors, so people are exposed to extreme weather, either the heat and sun, or cold, rain/snow later in the season. that is much less likely to happen in the stadium. More people are standing, which is also more physically exhausting, it is loud and a generally stressful situation at times, so that might also have an affect.

Basically, there are way too many variables that are different in a crowd at a football game, than from the people in your study, and without knowing all the details, I don't think we can make a fair comparison.

Alton

September 15th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^

That's my point.  The "3 deaths a game" cited by the person above is ridiculous when you realize that only 0.3 of 100,000 people in the population as a whole will die in 3.5 hours.

Like brhino said, how many of all of the people who die are (1) healthy enough to walk half a mile within 3 hours before they die, (2) not sitting in a vehicle, riding a bike, crossing a street or playing golf during a thunderstorm at the time they die, and (3) sitting in a spot where expert medical care is 2 minutes away at the most?

Again, I think 3 spectator deaths over the history of the stadium (since 1927) is reasonable, not 3 deaths a game or even 3 deaths a season.

 

Brhino

September 15th, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^

And then take into account that a lot of those deaths were likely from people who were too sick or injured to be attending a football game...

...or currently driving a car, or engaged in a high risk occupation...

 

Yostal

September 15th, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^

I think the Red Cross should be commended for their efforts in assisting people in their hour of need in such a massive environment, but this raises a question I have from Saturday night's game.

Much of the latter portion of the second quarter, for me anyway, was attempting to contact 377911 to get Event Staff down to the our part of the section because a fan was clearly threatening several other fans with physical violence, getting in their faces, yelling at them, etc.  I can handle jerks, this guy was beyond the pale.  Unfortunately, it took me nearly 14 minutes to get a text out to the staff due to heavy cell usage.  Has anyone else had similar problems, or do I need start looking at ways to tweak my phone on game day.

By the way, event staff came down, talked to the guy, didn't eject him because he claimed it was all a misunderstanding.  He was about to start up his act again when a couple of MSP officers came down the stairway and had a talk with him.  He played nice the rest of the game.

kamkazemoose

September 15th, 2011 at 3:54 PM ^

I agree that cell phone service is shoddy at best. I'm on verizon and at the games it is unrealistic to try and send a text. Sometimes, when I send something it will go instantly, other times I can try for a half hour and it still won't send. Also, if I'm getting a text, I may all of a sudden receive a handful of text that people had sent over the last hour or two.

UMdad

September 15th, 2011 at 2:49 PM ^

Maybe I am just old fashioned but I would say walking up to one of the ushers might be the correct course of action in that situation.  Most of the event staff have radios which can be used to contact the needed service. 

UAUM

September 15th, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^

was sent to the hospital on Friday with a severly irregular heart beat and the doctors suspected he was about to have a massive heart attack becaus of his family history.  I was there all night and Saturday monitoring him and waiting for test results, so I didn't make it to the game.  

 

Dad turned out to be okay, being diagnised with "only" 50% blockage of his arteries and a PVC, but I'll take that and this ND fan's life anyday over watching the game.  Just thankful for the amazing advances in medicine as of late.

LSAClassOf2000

September 15th, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^

Being an employee at DTE whose job takes him into the field several times each week, I am actually required by the company to remain certified in First Aid and CPR. I think it's a great idea personally.