What did fmr. US surgeon general and WISH med. expert say about CPR training, medical resources at youth sports
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Bronny James, LeBron James’ eldest son, suffered cardiac arrest while practicing at the University of Southern California on Monday, according to a statement from the James family.
Bronny James was last reported to be stable.
News 8 talked with Dr. Jerome Adams, the WISH-TV medical expert and a former U.S. surgeon general, about the incident and how to handle health resources as youth events.
Adams said, “My first reaction is as a father. I have 19 and 17 year old boys myself, and my heart goes out to LeBron James and his family.
“It’s easy to see these folks as athletes and not as human beings, but imagine your child being in the intensive care unit.”
The doctor added, “Cardiac arrest true is any time the heart stops suddenly. It’s usually an electrical issue and the heart just simply stops for any number of reasons. Sometimes it can be a circulatory reason. Sometimes it can be an electrical reason. That’s what happened here: The heart stops, and we usually defibrillate or give and to give CPR to help people actually continue to oxygenate their organs until we can identify and treat the cause.”
Adams says a cardiac arrest also happened with Demar Hamlin in January on the field of an NFL game in Cincinnati. Hamlin left a hospital in April and was cleared to play.
However, Hamlin’s cardiac arrest differed from Bronny James’.
Adams says that the latest cardiac arrest incident shows the continuing need for Indiana to reinforce the need to learn CPR and have medical resources available at youth sporting events.
“During the last Senate session, Senate Bill 369, the last legislative session, was passed that requires coaches, marching band and activity leaders to ensure that the defibrillator accessible within three minutes of any athletic activity. We also know that getting prompt CPR is important and so we can all save lives by making sure everyone, not just people like LeBron James or Damar Hamlin, have access to quick to prompts treatment. That, that was critical here.”
News 8’s Kyla Russell contributed to this report. This article was prepared from an interview aired on WISH-TV. Health Spotlight is presented by Community Health Network.