Please see the following Yahoo article regarding a young New York Rangers prospect who collapsed on the bench & died during a game. Unfortunately, since there were no medical personnel on-site, they probably did not have an AED there either.
MOSCOW (TICKER) —The shocking death of 19-year-old New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov has prompted a Russian lawmaker to raise the possibility of negligence on the part of paramedics.
Cherepanov died Monday after suffering a heart attack and collapsing on the bench during Avangard Omsk’s Continental Hockey League game against Vityav Chekhov.
According to Russian investigators, Cherepanov suffered from chronic ischemia, a medical condition in which not enough blood gets to the heart and other organs.
Pavel Krasheninnikov, a member of the State Duma, said in a television interview that “there are elements of negligence here.”
Krasheninnikov, who also sits on the Russian Hockey Federation’s supervisory council, claimed that emergency workers waited too long to respond to Cherepanov and did not have a defibrillator at the site.
The NHL requires that a defibrillator - a machine used to shock the heart - be available at every rink in the league.
Former Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr, who signed with Avangard in the offseason, had just finished a shift with Cherepanov and was talking to him just before the Russian suddenly collapsed.
“He passed out on the bench and they couldn’t revive him,” Avangard coach Wayne Fleming said. “He just laid back, passed out and went kind of white.”
TSN of Canada reported Monday that was no ambulance was present at the arena and that it took between “15 and 20 minutes” to transport Cherepanov from the arena to the hospital.
Fleming was asked about the emergency procedures that were followed after Cherepanov collapsed. However, he told ESPN.com that team officials asked him not to comment.
The 17th overall selection in the 2007 draft, Cherepanov had seven goals and five assists in 12 games for Avangard this season.
Fleming said a team of doctors failed in their attempts to revive Cherepanov. He was then taken to a hospital, where further attempts to revive him also were unsuccessful.
Cherepanov’s death brought to mind two recent incidents in the NHL in which tragedy was avoided due to the fast response of EMS workers.
In November 2005, paramedics likely saved the life of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer, who went into cardiac arrest on the bench during a game at Joe Louis Arena.
Florida Panthers right wing Richard Zednik also faced a potential life-threatening situation when he suffered a severe neck injury when he was cut by the skate of a teammate in a contest in Buffalo this past February. Medical staff was able to contain the bleeding and get him to a hospital.
The NHL requires that an ambulance be on site for every league game and also mandates that medical staff be proficient in advanced trauma life support.
Tags: aeds