Again, MAJOR thank you for providing this information! I met him a few times in college, and he is an amazing guy. Continued prayers for him. I hope they can determine why this horrific experience occurred.
The medical bills will not be cheap, and we all know pro running *usually* does not pay a ton. Could Letsrun start a go fund me to assist with medical expenses? I would love to contribute.
CPR Certified wrote:
Can anyone confirm if an AED shock was actually administered to Kemoy? The machine won't shock (advise shock) unless needed. That EMS was not performing CPR as he was being taken away seemed like a positive sign.
They definitely had an aed on him. I could see the paddles as they took them off him to put him on stretcher .
For all the crabbing about “where were the medical professionals,” THIS is a good fact to note.
Medical professionals are neither omnipresent nor omniscient, and that is why YOU (speaking to all) should be taking a CPR course, instead of sitting helplessly when something goes wrong. Do it.
Agreed on Management's questions. I've watched the video, he was unattended for FAR too long. I guarantee you that the soon-to-follow lawsuit and settlement will result in many operational and situational upgrades to the current protocol.
Placing an AED machine on someone you are administering CPR to is part of the protocol. However, that does not mean the AED machine will always advise shock. In many cases, it might not. However, CPR will continue if the person administering still detects no signs of life - meaningful breath/pulse/movement. The AED will perform rhythm checks and advise shock and/or continued CPR through the cycle. This is a good time to recommend everyone become CPR and AED certified so you 1. Can perform life saving measures if needed and 2. Understand what’s happening when you see it. Recertify every two years. Protocols can change.
Hounddogharrier wrote:
CPR Certified wrote:
Can anyone confirm if an AED shock was actually administered to Kemoy? The machine won't shock (advise shock) unless needed. That EMS was not performing CPR as he was being taken away seemed like a positive sign.
They definitely had an aed on him. I could see the paddles as they took them off him to put him on stretcher .
nothing wrong with photos wrote:
Just wrong wrote:
Shame on any and all who were taking photos or video of what was happening with Mr Campbell.
While his post might sound crude, photos and especially video can be used to review what happened and determine where mistakes were made and procedures need to be changed. In a situation like that, people's memories can be very unreliable. It would be different is he was the only person there when someone collapsed and takes photos rather than helping but there was plenty of medical aid on the track. I am in the medical field and anytime something serious happens we always hold and after action review to determine what went well and where we can improve so that our response is better in the future.
Think of how the Kennedy assassination would be viewed if the Zapruder film did not exist? It answers nearly every question (and raises a few I'll admit).
European law requires that as soon as possible some sort of screen or blocking (like a soccer wall) by event administration to block anyone from taking photos or filming during a medical emergency or accident.
CPR Certified wrote:
This is a good time to recommend everyone become CPR and AED certified...Recertify every two years. Protocols can change.
In the meantime, google CPR+"new guidelines" to be sure you are up-to-date. The guidelines have changed dramatically recently.
Is this a joke or serious? I mean I agree, they should be held accountable for not taking this seriously enough (trying to begin the 400 while they are working on Kemoy on the track), but have they already begun taking action to file a lawsuit?
Spoke to another witness. He said the EMT came from across the track somewhere and started giving chest compressions. (He said he wished she had been at the finish as she would have been there quicker) Having said that, he said one of the men at the side of the track starting giving CPR before she was there. From the video it is clear she was there in 2 minutes so if this sequence is correct Kemoy was getting CPR before then. Then others seeing seeing the chest compressions saw the severity of the situation and came out of the stands (chest compressions get tiring) and assisted and the defibrillator used (or at least put on him as noted by others in this thread).
nothing wrong with photos wrote:
While his post might sound crude, photos and especially video can be used to review what happened and determine where mistakes were made and procedures need to be changed. In a situation like that, people's memories can be very unreliable. It would be different is he was the only person there when someone collapsed and takes photos rather than helping but there was plenty of medical aid on the track. I am in the medical field and anytime something serious happens we always hold and after action review to determine what went well and where we can improve so that our response is better in the future.
Think of how the Kennedy assassination would be viewed if the Zapruder film did not exist? It answers nearly every question (and raises a few I'll admit).
I totally agree. It's amazing what different stories I've heard especially in relation to timeline. But clear from the videos I've seen the EMT is there right at 2 minutes and others were assisting him before then.
So the videos/photos are good in establishing facts.
And then once even you have a set of facts established there are going to be vastly different opinions of the situation.
For example, talking to the guy today he was saying they should have had an EMT at the finish and she would have been there quicker. I understand that and maybe meets will learn from this, but he also said the guy on the side of the track was giving him CPR before she got there. To me that is great. I'm going to make sure I know how to do chest compressions now as I'd be clueless in a situation like this.
Pump it wrote:
For all the crabbing about “where were the medical professionals,” THIS is a good fact to note.
Medical professionals are neither omnipresent nor omniscient, and that is why YOU (speaking to all) should be taking a CPR course, instead of sitting helplessly when something goes wrong. Do it.
Agreed. A meet like this is going to have an EMT on hand but at most sporting practices, runs, etc, there isn't going to be someone.
Rooting for him wrote:
For those unfamiliar with the geography, the Armory is literally across the street from Columbia New York Presbyterian, one of the best hospitals in NYC, and the best for cardiac events (eg, this is where Bill Clinton chose to have his heart surgery a number of years ago). I know that doesn’t make up for the possible time lost when dealing with him on the track, but hopefully it helps.
Proper protocol is always to attempt stabilization for transport (no matter how short that transport may be) at the scene.
reer wrote:
Should every individual in the entire building including the athletes have radios on them at all time to call medical personnel? Should we expect medical professionals to appear instantaneously out of thin air at any given location on the track? Or in the entire building? Have some common sense....
^^This. What happened is very rare and with everything going on at the Armory with this type of meet, it makes sense that officials don't know what's going on at the other end of the track.
copying a letter I just sent to wejo....
Hi WeJo,
I was in the end stand close to where he went down. Obviously a difficult situation. 2 notes.
The Millrose Games is an elite athletic event. That was not a medical response you’d expect at an elite event. The officials seemed overwhelmed and confused as what to do in a potentially life and death situation. An EMT (or even better emergency care MD) should be trackside, not hanging out somewhere behind the scenes, then racing across the track a few minutes after the fact when the officials figure out something really bad is happening, track officials shouldn’t be the first responders.
There was clearly tension between the need to provide emergency care and pressure to keep on the TV schedule. It was beyond bizarre to see guys running by the scrum of people fighting to save the runner, while several thousand fans are like “are we really watching this guy die in real time and there’s still a race going on?” Worse, though, was when they pulled the junior girls mile off the track and then started to line up the women’s 400 meter while NYPD and NYFD were still all over the track. It seemed only the boos and hisses of the crowd kept them from starting the race.
Yes, a crazy situation but lack of preparation and real time good decision making made it worse.
Best, registered user PolarBear
Recent statement from Ray Flynn.
I haven't read all the posts so this may have been said.....
Thank God Campbell was at this meet and not out for a morning run or at a remote track doing a work out. He is alive (and hopefully will survive/thrive after this incident) now instead of another runner/heart arrhythmia tragedy.
Regardless of the exact sequence of events, it will never be perfect when this situation arises. Of course the meet had EMT's and defibrillators available. The fact that they were not instantly on the scene is not the fault of the meet or EMT's. For those who are always anxious to assign blame to any situation, please give it a rest.
bobinvirginia wrote:
If he's being sedated, he's likely in a hypothermic protocol (the caregivers are intentionally cooling his body temperature)---there has been fairly good data to support hypothermia for brain protection following a cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, an initial head CT will often not reveal brain damage due to lack of oxygen.
Bottom line...the doctors may not know the status of his brain for 48 hours. On the other hand, if he was responsive/communicative immediately after he was defibrillated/resuscitated; this would be excellent news for his overall prognosis.
Prayers to Kemoy and his family and friends as he recovers.
This - he’s not out of the woods yet. Hoping for the best updates these next few days.
Y'all are disgusting ghouls. Unbelievable.
I hope he turns out to be okay. This could turn out to be a life saving event.
Those who are criticizing the reaction and preparedness of the meet organizers, I'd say you're being a bit unreasonable. You cannot be fully prepped for every potential negative outcome in life. You can only take reasonable precautions. Having EMS and an AED on site are reasonable precautions. Getting the person in distress prompt medical attention - 2:00 is prompt - is more than reasonable - it is great.
We life in a day where we have DNA testing, videotape exists of of most events, and lots of law suits and this leads us to believe that only the most perfect outcome is acceptable. While we should strive for perfection, we shouldn't allow that desire to make everything short of perfection some sort of unacceptable failure.
Also, resources are finite. Perfection is almost unachievable.
I'll clear up a few things:
Two things are of CRITICAL importance in an event such as this (assuming this is cardiac arrest):
1. Time from collapse to CPR is crucial. Immediate CPR is ideal and this appears to be delayed beyond what should be expected at such an event. However, the timeframe we're dealing with is not such that you immediately expect a bad outcome. He is young and youth can do A LOT for you.
2. Equally, if not MORE important is: time from collapse to delivering a shock for a shockable rhythm (not all heart rhythms in cardiac arrest are shockable). The fact that he appears to have received a shock is actually quite good news. Moreover, the fact that he was not receiving CPR en route to the hospital means they restored the proper electrical rhythm. If they had not, he would be dead.
The fact that his echocardiogram was "normal" is not entirely reassuring at this point. If he truly had a period of "not feeling well" leading up to the race, he may well have had viral myocarditis (virus-induced inflammation of the heart) predisposing him to dangerous electrical arrhythmias. Alternatively, he could still have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as they do not all present with the classically thickened heart. A more detailed echo following his hopeful recovery with provocative testing and a cardiac MRI will help to sort out this question as well as the myocarditis possibility. He will need a detailed look at his EKG and likely genetic testing to look for abnormal conditions predisposing to arrhythmias such as long/short QT syndrome, CPVT, brugada, etc. These will take a well-trained electrophysiologist and a genetics team to sort out. Lastly, the decision as to whether to pursue a heart catheterization will be up to the medical team both to assess for traditional heart artery blockages (less likely in a healthy young man despite what you may read in the NY times or elsewhere), but also to assess for abnormal anatomy of those same heart arteries which can sometimes go undiagnosed for your whole life until one day you have an arrest.
Several AED's should be positioned around the arena (not just one) and medical personnel should not be clustered in one corner. These events are thankfully rare, but when they do occur, they are devastating.
A period of hypothermia will likely be induced with gradual rewarming and neurologic testing to follow. The timeframe for this is usually over the course of the next 24-72 hours. Initial head CT is good news, but this is only going to show information in the worst of scenarios and is subject to change over the course of the next several days. He will likely be in a coma and possibly paralyzed. So, news of recovery (neurologic) will come after some time unless his recovery is speedy.
I agree with the sentiments shared here. Everyone who is willing should learn CPR. The difference between my CPR as a cardiologist and yours if you're properly trained is essentially nothing. My skills only come into play once medicines and procedures are involved and thus, I believe most people underestimate their ability to save a life.
First of all, shut up. You have no clue what you’re talking about. I don’t know who you spoke to, but the people in the upper stands across from where Kemoy collapsed would say otherwise. He came around the turn, staggered a bit, and I began to think he was fainting. Tiernan was tripping on his heals, and the field started to nudge by him. Kemoy started to fall towards a pile of starting blocks and it looked as though he was going to gash his head. When he hit the ground, it became very clear this wasn’t just an overheated runner. He was shaking, convulsing, and unstable. We could literally see his eyes rolling back into this head from the upper stands. People were screaming in horror. As far as the Armory management: it took almost 2 minutes for the helpless officials to get medical help. Honestly, the first medical staff to help Kemoy were people in the crowd who couldn’t take it anymore and were jumping over the side-fencing to give mouth-to-mouth, CPR, etc. As much as I was looking forward to the 3k, an official should’ve stepped up and stopped the race. I feel as though the runners would’ve understood the severity of the circumstances, just like the shot putters did- but you stupid running nerds on this forum can’t go one weekend without seeing a 3k that you can then judge on here. A lot of fans around me were asking: what if an official has a freak heart attack? What if someone gets hit by a shot put? It took almost 10 minutes to get him a defibrillator, and it blows my mind that there isn’t one near the finish or even EMTs nearby (there’s a hospital across the street). Obviously, traumas like this don’t regularly occur at events of this nature, but this is a sad wake up call for the Armory and other major meets. They can keep classifying this event as “Kemoy falling off the track,” but everybody in the stands knows we felt like we were helplessly watching an elite runner die in front of us. I’m thankful Kemoy is okay, and will continue praying for he & his family. It will take me a long time to get over what I saw.
wejo wrote:
If anyone saw this first-hand please feel free to email me.
wejo@letsrun.comEveryone I spoke to at the meet (not people associated with the meet) were full of praise for how quickly people acted. Now I guess there is a possibility they didn't observe the situation right away but just talking to people I didn't hear complaints.
Yes I heard people raise their voices when it looked like the shot put might continue but all-in-all if Kemoy survives this it is because of the quick medical attention he received.
Yesyesyes wrote:
I was right there when he collapsed. There was no medical team inside the oval. They had to run the whole way to the far corner of the armory(no radio apparently) to get the trainer. It too WAY too long. They also do not have an aed inside the oval. They had to retrieve that from somewhere else while they were giving him chest compressions.
The lack of medical attention was extremely concerning. The minutes he laid there without medical attention were unreal.
Once again if you were there feel free to email me. Watching the video it looks like someone gestures to get him help almost immediately and people are around him. 2 minutes later you can see him being turned over.
I would not expect a medical team or an AED to be inside the track but surrounding it yes. And doctors out there tell me, but aren't chest compressions often done before AED in a lot of situations?
Meet Management wrote:
The entire thing was a sh!t show, end of story.
Where was the emergency action plan? Was it activated? Who was in charge? Who was the decision makers? Why was the race not stopped?
Why were the spectators the ones to start CPR? Who called 911? Where was the operational AED? How many EMT’s were working the meet?
Heads are going to roll! Lawyers are lining up for a pay day.
Surprised the Armory didn’t dig a shallow grave in the long jump pit to hide him in.
Prayers to Keymor, horrible situation all around. #StayStongKeymor
I almost want to delete your post because you may have an axe to grind with your disgusting long jump pit comment but I'll leave it up just because for a situation this serious we want full transparency.
What are you talking about? Were you at the meet? If so email me
wejo@letsrun.comIf Campbell survives from this I'm going to credit everyone at the meet for acting fast.
Several in this thread have recommended CPR training. But aren't the stats on those who ultimately recover after receiving CPR pretty glum (google "is CPR effective")? TV and movie depictions of revival after CPR may have given us unrealistic expectations. A slim chance at life over death may justify the CPR effort, but for most recipients it simply briefly delays the inevitable.
We all want to feel like we're "doing something" if we come upon someone in distress, but cracking a few ribs while delivering CPR may just cause more suffering for the terminally ill. Call in medical professionals, then get out of the way.