ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Monday looked different at One Bills Drive because the Bills medical staff were the one's getting reps. With the help of local doctors, the Bills athletic trainers and medical staff went through five different scenarios to meet the NFL's emergency action plan guidelines.
"Anything that could go wrong does go wrong, so let's do it here now," said Dr. Brian Clemency. "Let's have the toughest situation we can imagine, and that way, we are as prepared as possible."
One thing that separates the Bills training is that they are one of two NFL teams that bring independent doctors specializing in emergency medicine to administer the emergency preparedness training in addition to the EAP staff in attendance.
"Everyone does a great job with it, but as an emergency physician, it's cool that they are teachers; they work with EMS and paramedics every day, so they have a lot to add from an education perspective," said Emergency Preparedness Consultant for NFL Player Health and Safety, Dr. Jim Ellis.
Dr. Ellis has been involved in the NFL for decades and has seen the league make massive efforts to ensure the health and safety of its players. He says Bills safety Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest on the field was one of the rare moments in recent sports history.
"The previous cardiac arrest was in 1971, a Detroit Lions player named Chuck Hughes. So, essentially, we went 50 years without a cardiac arrest on the field of play," said Dr. Ellis.
Because the NFL Health and Safety Department continues to improve, the Bills' medical staff was well prepared and able to act quickly.
"It's just kind of all the hard work paid off. We do all this training for a reason. It all showed up on that day in Cincinnati," said Dr. Ellis.
The two-hour hands-on training day is another opportunity to improve within the organization.
"We went through head trauma; we went through neck trauma; we went through cardiac arrest; we went through heat exhaustion," said Bill's head athletic trainer, Nate Breske. "So, it's really working through things that could happen in real life."
