After Buffalo Bills’ Safety, Damar Hamlin, suffered cardiac arrest on the football field a few weeks ago, state lawmakers said they want change.
That change is an AED at every school sporting event. The Erie sports world agrees that Damar’s Law would be beneficial in Pennsylvania schools to keep student athletes safe.
Pennsylvania state Senator Marty Flynn has proposed a bill that would require all Pennsylvania schools to have AED’s at sporting events.
The General Manager of the Erie SeaWolves said implementing this bill in schools would help ensure student athlete safety.
“Yeah, absolutely emergency protocols need to be in place. You need to have people that know how to use an AED and other types of triage things if something serious happens on the field,” said Greg Gania, Assistant General Manager of the Erie SeaWolves.
Gania said the Erie SeaWolves are placed under emergency care by various on-field entities.
“If a player gets hurt on the field and it’s a manageable injury that the athletic training staff can handle, then they just handle that on the field. But if it’s very serious we have emergency personnel on site for every game,” Gania explained.
The athletic director of the Erie School District said should Damar’s Law go into effect, they would be compliant with the requirements.
“We have two trainers from AHN that are on site at practices and at games, and with them they have their training equipment, and with that is a portable AED that they carry with them,” said Dale Mills, Director of Athletics for the Erie School District.
And for more contact sports like football, she said the district partners with EmergyCare to provide ambulance service if needed.
Gania said as well as having the AED, it’s important for those on the field to be properly trained.
“They have to be, and I would venture to guess that most athletic training staffs have people that are trained for those things, but if they’re not they absolutely need to.”
According to PA Senate, state Senator Marty Flynn plans to formally introduce the language of the bill within a month.