Jan. 2 saw the NFL experience a near-unprecedented health scare. 

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest following a hit during a Monday Night Football contest against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

As concerned players looked on in disbelief and despair, the 24-year-old underwent immediate CPR and resuscitation before being taken by ambulance to a hospital intensive care unit. 

The latest medical updates have shown Hamlin remaining in critical condition, but he is now breathing on his own and has even spoken with his teammates. 

Many credit the quick response of first responders and medical personnel, specifically Bills assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington who administered CPR. As reported in recent days, Cincinnati and all NFL teams have numerous medical professionals on their sidelines available to provide rapid assistance.

"The 60-minute meeting is the most important thing we do on Sundays," said NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills to CBS News. "It involves everyone on the medical care team from both teams.”

This includes detailing the responsibilities of personnel who oversee resuscitation and bring the automated external defibrillator or AED. 

"They talk specifically about locations of emergency equipment, who's going to lead if we have cardiac arrest, and how the chain of command will go," Dr. Sills said.

While its procedures aren’t as extensive as those of the NFL, the S.C. High School League has also equipped its members with the ability to handle such emergencies. 

“Every school has an AED,” Commissioner Jerome Singleton said. “We require that our coaches be AED-certified, and first aid trained every two years. Then, we also require all our schools to have an emergency action plan for [sporting] events. We’ve been practicing that for over a decade now.”

As one of 51 high school athletic associations nationwide, Singleton said the league has tried to remain proactive when it comes to health and safety. The league’s health and safety guidelines are available to view at schsl.org.

Singleton said AEDs have been used during his tenure during a basketball practice and volleyball game. Along with being trained to use those devices, Singleton requires coaches to have CPR training as well. 

Zach Matthews, head football coach at W.W. King Academy in Batesburg-Leesville, said his school also has an AED on site both for home and away games. 

SCISA Athletic Secretary Mike Fanning added that some schools also use a parent pool to have people in attendance at games who can provide medical assistance. 

Football isn’t the only sport where such emergency procedures are needed due to physical contact, Fanning said. He detailed stories such as an elderly fan being treated with CPR after suffering an attack in the stands. 

He added players in baseball are especially susceptible to life-threatening injuries through the possibility of getting hit by pitches or struck by a line drive.

A firsthand example took place March 8, 2020 at Gilbert High School. J.T. Marsh was a supplemental athletics trainer at Gilbert High School during the Sandlapper Shootout game. In the sixth inning, J.F. Byrnes outfielder Grayson Selepes was chasing a flyball when he collided with a J.F. Byrnes shortstop. 

The violent collision left Selepes unconscious on the ground. Watching 75 feet away behind the 1st base bench, Marsh rushed into action sensing something serious. 

“That is a sound you should not hear on a baseball field,” Marsh told the Chronicle. “It was literally like somebody hit a balloon that won’t pop and smashed it flat and all the air rushed out.”

Seeing Selepes go into cardiac arrest, Marsh called for emergency services and, with two nurses, gave CPR and used the AED to revive Selepes.

Lexington County Emergency Medical Services arrived seven minutes later to take Selepes to Prisma Health Children’s Hospital. He went on to resume his athletic career with the Rebels, while Marsh, who transferred to River Bluff High School, was given the Order of the Palmetto. 

Another case that brought attention to emergency care at athletic arenas took place 20 years ago. Back in 2003, former Dutch Fork forward Victor Sims, 18, collapsed while practicing at Dreher High School and his death was ruled the result of cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) due to an enlarged heart.

Sims’ legacy remains prominent at Dutch Fork. His jersey and picture are framed in the school’s Athletics Hallway, and his parents, Victor Sr. and Patricia Ann, and alumnus Murphy Holloway began an annual Memorial Basketball Clinic.

They also worked with Heartfelt, a nonprofit organization founded by Holly Morrell, to bring public awareness and use of early detection to prevent sudden cardiac arrest, to hold heart screening tests at several Chronicle Country schools in 2004.