Citizen CPR Foundation (CCPRF) is pleased to announce the National Football League’s (NFL) Jeff Miller and Jonathan Drezner, MD, as the keynote speakers for the 23rd biennial Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit (CASSummit) taking place Nov. 29—Dec. 2, 2023, at the award-winning Town and Country Resort in San Diego, CA.
This year’s CASSummit’s theme is “Challenging the Status Quo,” and Miller and Dr. Drezner will discuss, “A Teachable Moment for the Nation: How the NFL Saved a Life.”
Miller is the NFL’s Executive Vice President of Communications, Public Affairs and Policy, a role that includes overseeing the league’s player Health & Safety programs. Dr. Drezner is the team physician for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine and director of the University of Washington Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology.
Together, they will explore the incredible events that occurred on January 2, 2023, when Buffalo Bills’ safety, Damar Hamlin, survived a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in front of a nationwide audience on Monday Night Football. The event became a teachable moment for the nation as the country was riveted by Hamlin’s recovery and the critical importance of bystander CPR and quick use of AEDs.
Since then, Hamlin has joined the NFL in their advocacy for availability of emergency action plans, CPR training and AEDs for athletes of all sports at every level. The NFL is clearly challenging the status quo for SCA in athletes by establishing the Smart Heart Sports Coalition a collaboration between the NFL, numerous major sports leagues, the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, and other nonprofits including the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation. Now, CCPRF is honored to have this timely presentation from Miller and Dr. Drezner featured at this year’s CASSummit.
“This conference will continue to stress that participants in life-saving endeavors,” says Stuart Berger, CCPRF president and executive director, Heart Center, Lurie Children’s Hospital. “In the background of the Hamlin incident, you will hear how the NFL is partnering with the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross and many other organizations to train in the area of CPR-AED use. Together, they will strive to optimize and codify all aspects of community participation in learning, teaching and intervention, and implementation.” Registration to the Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit is open and the general public is welcome to attend and join the largest gathering of resuscitation professionals, educators, experts, influencers, advocates, survivors and community champions. For more information about the CASSummit and to register, visit www.citizencprsummit.org
SOURCE: Citizen CPR Foundation