The 4 tools that saved Damar Hamlins life.

If you are not familiar with the Damar Hamlin story it is an extraordinary one. Damar Hamlin is a NFL player who went into cardiac arrest during a Monday night football matchup last season. It was week 17 of the season; Damar plays for the Buffalo Bills who were matched up against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The game was in Cincinnati.

During a seemingly routine play Damar was hit by an opposing player and went into cardiac arrest.

The entire country watched.

He survived.

The medical team behind the life saving effort was at the InnoHealth seminar put on by JobsOhio yesterday in Columbus. I was fortunate enough to attend the event and hear the physician teams perspective on the dramatic events that took place that Monday night.

This extraordinary medical team calls the University of Cincinnati home and it was their job to be on the field during the Cincinnati Bengals game. Four of the medical team who worked on Damar presented a keynote panel called 'Playbook to Save a Life’. The panel highlighted the strategy, physician career path, innovation, and tools used by the University of Cincinnati in their role as a medical provider for the Bengals football team.

During the panel the physicians highlighted four vital tools that were used on the field and in the ambulance. In a situation where these physicians needed to think fast, act correctly, and save a life here were the 4 tools they used:

• Hands and Fingers

They needed to get him out of his equipment. They needed to give CPR.

• Ambu Bag

A handheld tool that is used to deliver positive pressure ventilation to any subject with insufficient or ineffective breaths. The medical team noted that training on how to properly use this tool is less than optimal and can mean the difference between saving a life and losing one.

• AED Defibrillator

An AED, or automated external defibrillator, is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. As my wife would say "shock, survive".

Every office, school, playground, and football field should have one.

• Video Laryngoscopy

Demar needed to be tubed.

Video laryngoscopy is a form of indirect laryngoscopy in which the clinician does not directly view the larynx. Instead, visualization of the larynx is performed with a fiberoptic or digital laryngoscope inserted transnasally or transorally. In other words, they use a video feed provided by fiber optics.

Use of innovative fiber optic technology by the University of Cincinnati allowed their team to perform the procedure with relative ease and accuracy from a moving ambulance.

These tools along with an incredible medical team kept Damar alive and got him back to being a Buffalo Bill.

The innovation within Lifesciences, medicine, and medical technology in Ohio is grand. I am happy to be participating in that innovation in some small way.

We are fortunate to have so many great life saving organizations within reach for Ohioans. That night Damar was in #Ohio. I believe that saved his life.

We all continue to root for you Damar.

A Browns fan.