The 17-year-old national badminton player Zhang Zhijie passed away. Why did the "Eriksen-style miracle" not happen again?

On the evening of June 30, a tragedy occurred at the Asian Youth Badminton Championships held in Indonesia. Chinese player Zhang Zhijie, who was only 17 years old, suddenly fainted during the game. He was sent to the hospital but rescue efforts failed and he was pronounced dead at 23:20 local time.

Zhang Zhijie's passing is regrettable. At the same time, the timeliness and effectiveness of medical assistance on the field has also aroused widespread attention and discussion.

Indonesian Badminton Association announces rescue details, Zhang Zhijie experienced "cardiac arrest"

On July 1, the Indonesian Badminton Association and the local hospital (Sardjito) held a press conference to explain the sudden death of Chinese badminton star Zhang Zhijie on the court.

According to the Indonesian Badminton Association, Zhang Zhijie had no pulse and spontaneous breathing when he arrived at the hospital. The hospital then performed CPR on him for three hours. At 20:50, the hospital believed that Zhang Zhijie had died. The Chinese Badminton Association still tried to transfer him to another hospital. After 1.5 hours of CPR, he was declared dead at 23:20. The two hospitals came to the same conclusion after examining and treating Zhang Zhijie: he had experienced "cardiac arrest."

The Indonesian Badminton Association submitted a written application to the Badminton World Federation, requesting the Badminton World Federation to revise the rule that medical teams are not allowed to enter the venue without the referee's permission, so that athletes can receive treatment as soon as possible.

If a medical emergency occurs at a sporting event, the speed and professionalism of on-site treatment can often mean the difference between life and death.

We often say that if correct rescue is given within the "golden four minutes" of cardiac arrest, the success rate of rescue will be greatly improved.

At the 2021 European Cup, Danish player Eriksson suddenly fell to the ground without contact and suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on the court. At the critical moment of life and death, the first aid personnel on the scene immediately performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Eriksson after judgment. After 13 minutes of emergency rescue, Eriksson finally regained consciousness, was carried on a stretcher and sent to the hospital. It can be said that the Danish medical team on the scene demonstrated textbook professional operations!

First, it was very fast. Eriksson suddenly fell to the ground without any contact. The Danish captain Kehl immediately requested a suspension of the game after discovering it. Within 20 seconds, medical staff arrived at Eriksson's side to check him. Within 50 seconds, the auxiliary medical staff carried a stretcher and AED onto the court. At 1 minute and 10 seconds, the AED was ready. At 1 minute and 50 seconds, cardiopulmonary resuscitation began. The whole process was completed within the "golden four minutes" with almost no delay.

Secondly, they were well-equipped. When Erickson fell to the ground, the support team immediately took the multifunctional defibrillator, which is a defibrillator used by professionals. The team doctor first performed chest compressions on Erickson and then defibrillated him. The defibrillation step is very critical. When cardiac arrest occurs, 80% of people will experience ventricular fibrillation within 3-5 minutes. At this time, timely defibrillation of the patient can help the patient terminate the ventricular fibrillation and restore normal heartbeat.

After a series of treatments at the scene, in the ambulance and after being sent to the hospital, Eriksson not only saved his life, but also returned to the court and continued his career.

Why did the "Erickson-style miracle" fail to happen again? What links were missed this time?

From a live game video, we can see that Zhang Zhijie fell to the ground at 0:27 and was carried out of the venue at 2:26. During these 2 minutes, the medical team at the venue did not perform AED (external defibrillator) or CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) first aid.

According to media reports, many professional doctors said that Zhang Zhijie's convulsions after falling to the ground were most likely caused by sudden cardiac arrest and cerebral ischemia and hypoxia. If rescue is not timely, sudden cardiac death will occur.

When cardiac arrest occurs, brain cells can only tolerate hypoxia for 4 minutes, which is the most effective time for emergency treatment. Therefore, it is called the "golden 4 minutes". Within the "golden 4 minutes" of saving lives, the correct use of AED and cardiopulmonary resuscitation can greatly improve the effect of pre-hospital emergency treatment, and achieve the purpose of saving lives and reducing injuries.

The golden 4 minutes are very important, let’s learn how to do it.

The specific steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation are as follows:

【judge】

Determine whether there is cardiac arrest. If someone suddenly falls to the ground, immediately pat their shoulders, call out loudly, and check if they are conscious; if they lose consciousness, immediately spend 5-10 seconds to observe the chest for any rise and fall to determine if they are breathing.

【Call for help】

If the person loses consciousness and stops breathing, it means that the heart has stopped and cardiopulmonary resuscitation is needed immediately. Immediately call 120 yourself (you can turn on the hands-free mode) or ask someone to call the emergency number and get an AED nearby.

If an AED is available immediately, it should be used first (follow the instructions). If an AED is not available immediately, correct cardiopulmonary resuscitation can also win the patient a valuable chance of rescue.

The death of a 17-year-old in his prime has triggered a deep reflection on the safety of sports events. We hope that relevant departments can strengthen the safety of events to prevent similar tragedies from happening again. For ordinary people, learning first aid skills can come in handy at critical moments!