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Sports
By Patrick Browne
With the official start of the Michigan High School Athletic season on Aug. 7, thousands of athletes took to the practice fields and started their journey to the state championships which will take place in November.
As players took the field for the first time since summer began, coaches were responsible for making sure they were properly conditioned and ready for their first game. The first several weeks of practice are critical as coaches must push the players who can be pushed, but be aware of the physical challenges some players are experiencing.
It is a physically demanding time during which student health and safety is a primary focus. The Forest Park School District recently accepted the donation of a potentially life-saving portable automated external defibrillator machine.
According to the American Red Cross: “An AED is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. It’s a sophisticated yet easy-to-use medical device that can analyze the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.”
Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Recent studies cited in the National Library of Medicine indicate that annually one in 53,000 athletes suffer from SCA.
Last year the nation was made aware of the risks of sudden cardiac events when Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills collapsed on live television. That incident and subsequent reporting of how SCA events are increasingly common moved Robert Groop, a member of the Forest Park community and parent of two graduates, to donate the AED to the school.
“Over the past few years we have all heard more and more college and high school athletes who have been impacted,” Goop said. “I knew we had an AED inside the school, but there wasn’t one that could be taken outside. I thought about it for a long time and decided someone needed to buy one for the school.”
Forest Park Superintendent Christy Larson expressed her gratitude for the donation.
“We now have three AEDs in the school, so if there’s an emergency we can respond immediately regardless of where the emergency occurs,” Larson said. “An AED is important for players, but we have parents and grandparents attend our games and no one is immune from the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Having a portable AED at our fingertips is truly awesome.”