This two-minute video on the recognition of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in athletes features a compilation of real-life cases of SCA in an athlete. The footage shows the actual collapse and SCA event of professional athletes (Damar Hamlin, Marc-Vivien Foé, and Christian Eriksen), a college athlete (Keyontae Johnson), and several high school (Claire Crawford) and youth athletes. It is designed to educate viewers on how to promptly recognize SCA in a collapsed and unresponsive athlete.
The video was provided by Jonathan Drezner, MD, Director of the University of Washington Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology, Editor-in-Chief, British Journal of Sports Medicine, and Team Physician, Seattle Seahawks, OL Reign, & UW Huskies. "Everybody who works with athletes should watch this video," he said.
SCA is the leading cause of sudden death in athletes during sports and exercise. SCA is a life-threatening condition typically caused by an electrical disturbance in the heart known as ventricular fibrillation. When an athlete collapses with SCA, they often show signs such as having their eyes open and rolled back; brief seizure-like activity, shaking or twitching; or continued breathing movements after collapse that later deteriorate to occasional (agonal) gasping. SCA is a survivable event through prompt recognition, initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and rapid use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).