Video Story
Watch VideoDefibrillators saving young athletes
Story By: Bea Karnes
Source: NBC
Portable defibrillators are becoming common equipment at children's athletic events. AEDs, automated external defibrillators, help restart the heart in the event of an accident.
It happened just last month in Jacksonville, Florida to high school lacrosse goalie James Hendrick. Hendrick was hit in the chest by a rock hard lacrosse ball causing his heart to stop beating. Hendrick said, "It's still so surreal for me. I don't think it's hit me yet, but I was dead."
It happened again just last week at another lacrosse game - this time in Raleigh, North Carolina. A player, hit in the chest, suffers a potentially fatal condition known as "commotio cordis".
Dr. Andrew Gregory, who specializes in sports medicine at Vanderbilt University said, "commotio cordis is a rare condition where children get hit in the chest with a ball, it can be a lacrosse ball or a baseball most commonly. But if it happens at just the right time, it can cause this arrhythmia that causes death"
Researchers say this has been happening with all too much frequency. Over the last ten years, on average, one young athlete a month has been dying because of this. "And it may have something to do with the chest wall being softer, it may have something to do with the heart. I don't think we know the answer to that but it is a condition in children, not adults," said Gregory.
In both the Jacksonville and Raleigh episodes, an AED saved the day by saving the athlete. Jim Dodd won't leave home without one. When helping coach the Wildcats of Weddington, North Carolina, Dodd’s AED is as close as his clipboard and he's as trained in it as he is the game.
Dodd said, "It's very simple, very intuitive. Basically the pads are applied to the upper right and lower left of the chest""
Across the country, more and more schools and athletic associations are budgeting for AEDs, which can costs up to $3,000. But in the case of at least two high school lacrosse players, have proven their worth at saving lives.
