Metro Detroit parents, coaches focus on safety after Damar Hamlin incident
(CBS DETROIT) - "It's one of those moments you'll never forget," said Brian Marshall, a father and football coach.
Marshall recently had a conversation with his two sons about the terrifying incident on Monday night when Buffalo Bills safety Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field.
"We talked about not overreacting, we talked about how it made them feel emotionally, almost like a grieving period because everyone has been in that situation," Marshall said.
Marshall has been in similar situation as he was a former running back at Northwestern University. He is currently a high school football coach at Southfield A&T High School and a youth football coach with the Southfield Falcons. He is also a dad to top high school prospect Isiah Marshall and upcoming youth standout Christian Marshall.
Aside from the talk he had with his kids about Hamlin, Marshall said it's time to have a conversation about being better prepared to deal with medical emergencies on the field at all levels.
"It should be mandated you should have an EMS at every game, because that's the difference between life and death, we're not saying it's going to happen again, it doesn't happen often, but when it does, we're prepared," he said.
Currently, the only requirement the Michigan High School Athletic Association has is for coaches to be CPR certified.
There is currently no requirement to have an ambulance at the site of a sporting event or to have a defibrillator present. Medics used a defibrillator to resuscitate Hamlin after suffering a cardiac arrest.
"I think for me the comforting thing is that here at U of D Jesuit, we have a full time athletic trainer, every practice and every game and every coach is certified in CPR and AED," said Matt Lewis.
AED certified refers to be able to operate a defibrillator. University of Detroit Jesuit Head Football Coach Matt Lewis said the school decided years ago to train certain staff in these areas.
"So if something like this did happen, however unlikely it may be, we have several people that are certified and trained to respond to that situation to hopefully affect the most positive outcome possible," Lewis said.
Marshall said kids' safety should be a top priority, but also said there is a lot more to learn about Hamlin's cardiac arrest.
"It's still a lot of information to find out and until we get all the facts, I don't like to speculate, I like to know what is going on, what caused it," he said.
