The unity of a team during uncertain moments, whether on the football field or in life, is essential. There is a care and concern for one another that can’t be measured, as was the case during BJ Thompson’s medical emergency at the Kansas City Chiefs training facility Thursday.
Chiefs Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance Rick Burkholder addressed the media after Friday’s practice to explain the traumatic situation and Thompson’s progress.
“BJ, when he had the seizure, (Harrison) Butker immediately ran towards the training room and grabbed Julie Frymyer and David Glover and grabbed me,” Burkholder told reporters. “We went into the room, and eventually, Tiffany Morton and Evan Craft came in; as well as this facility, we have a doctor’s office down the hall, and Dr. J.P. Darche from Kansas University Health System was there.
“He came up and assisted in as a team. We tried to stabilize BJ and then put him on the floor while he was still seizing, and then he went into cardiac arrest. So our team of that group of people provided CPR for him. He had one AED shock and came back. So he was he was only in cardiac arrest for probably less than a minute, minute and a half.”
The Chiefs and every team in the league must practice life-saving procedures similar to those used for helping Thompson. Burkholder and the players reviewed the protocols on Monday of this week.
“(Thompson) was taken to KU Hospital, where he was heavily sedated yesterday through the night, and then he was brought out of the sedation this morning,” Burkholder explained. “He was on a ventilator overnight, just so he could breathe, because he was so heavily sedated that’s all out. He’s alert, he’s awake. He’s coming through quite well. We don’t have a diagnosis, and sometimes you don’t have that in medicine. He’s awake and alert and headed in the absolute right direction.”
Butker’s immediate response, highlighted in the special teams meeting, helped save precious time as Thompson efficiently got medical attention.
