I love that this has become a thread about youth academies. Do you think if Tomas Rosicky trained as a shark attack defense specialist in the U.S. army as a 3rd grader that he would have pulled the battlefield equivalent of this shit when he faced off against the U.S. army at a later date after he had signed as a free agent mercenary with the Finnish air force? Tomas Rosicky is quite obviously profoundly unpatriotic. On that there can be no argument.
the grouping of these occurrences is strictly random. If these were spread out over an entire year, no one would be trying to make a connection (and most people wouldn't notice). Grum, I disagree about the notion that these type of occurences would go unoticed. The sudden death of athletes, whether cardiac related or not, always draw a great deal of attention due to the perception that athletes are in peak or near-peak physical condition. The assumption would be that they are less susceptible to such health events. Good info from the American Heart Association for those who are interested: "Although SCD occurs rarely in athletes, when it does happen, it often affects us with shock and disbelief. Cause: Most cases of SCD are related to undetected cardiovascular disease. In the younger population, it is often due to congenital heart defects, while in older athletes (35 years and older), the cause is more often related to coronary artery disease. Prevalence: SCD in athletes occurs rarely; however media coverage often makes it seem like it happens more often. In the younger population, most cases of SCD occur while playing team sports; in about one in 100,000 to one in 300,000 athletes, and more often in males. In older athletes, SCD occurs more often during running or jogging and in approximately one in 15,000 joggers and one in 50,000 marathon runners. Screening: The American Heart Association recommends cardiovascular screening for high school and collegiate athletes."
Awareness of the need for defibrillators is something I can get behind.
Do defibrillators make a real difference? It feels like a piece of security theater in a way, though I suppose at major sporting events there's definitely at least one person close at hand with an idea of how to operate the thing. And I'm done playing Devil's Advocate for the day.
Do defibrillators make a real difference? It feels like a piece of security theater in a way, though I suppose at major sporting events there's definitely at least one person close at hand with an idea of how to operate the thing. If they save one life (and they certainly have), then they have saved more lives than TSA confiscation of water bottles, nail clippers and the like (speaking of security theater). I suppose the question is whether the aggregate cost of stocking places such as schools, sports stadiums, airports, etc. with defibrillators is greater than the cost of the lives of people who would otherwise die without them.
Jiri Fischer
I may have to give up Devil's Advocacy for good. It's that or watch the Keanu/ Pacino flick for tips.
My Dr.'s son collapsed during a high school football game a year ago and was saved by a portable defib. When government can be a good thing.
