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Vanderbilt Athletic Trainer to Receive Honors 5/10/2006
Meyer to Be Recognized by Nashville Metro Council and National Athletic Trainers Association Vanderbilt athletic trainer Mike Meyer will be honored by the Nashville Metro Council and the National Athletic Trainers Association for his efforts in saving the life of Commodore men’s basketball student-athlete Davis Nwankwo in early March. Meyer will be recognized by the Nashville Metro Council on Tuesday, May 16 with a memorializing resolution in a brief ceremony prior to the council’s meeting at 7 p.m. Meyer also will be named the NATA Division I Athletic Trainer of the Year at the association’s Annual Symposium in Atlanta on June 15. Nwankwo, a redshirt freshman, collapsed at the beginning of a Commodore practice at Memorial Gymnasium on March 6 when he suffered cardiac arrest. After a student athletic trainer retrieved an automated external defibrillator (AED), Meyer resuscitated Nwankwo by administering one shock and two rescue breaths. After Nwankwo was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, results from testing determined that the 6-10 reserve forward has an enlarged heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He was released from the hospital three days later. “As a Nashville native and Vanderbilt alumnus, I’ve followed this story with great interest,” said Charles Tygard, Nashville council member for the 35th District. “There is a lesson here everyone can learn from in preparation and knowing what to do in those situations. Both Mike and the university were ready to act.” “Mike is widely known as an outstanding athletic trainer and we’re proud not only of his actions on the court with Davis Nwankwo, but all of his day-to-day duties that help benefit student-athletes,” said Ron Courson, NATA chairman of the College Athletic Trainers Committee. Since the conclusion of Vanderbilt’s basketball season, Meyer often has helped promote the readily available use of AEDs. Meyer presented the Nwankwo case at the National Athletic Trainer’s Association Task Force on Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Atlanta on April 17. Meyer helped assist the association in formulating its own statement, stressing the importance of available defibrillators at high school and college sporting facilities. Three days later, Meyer demonstrated how to use a defibrillator at Bellevue Middle School as part of the Heartbeat of Nashville Public Access Defibrillation Program which donates AEDs to Metro Schools. Heartbeat of Nashville is a community consortium that is comprised of representatives of the Nashville Fire Department, Vanderbilt Medical Center, the American Hear Association, the American Red Cross, the Metro Public Health Department and other community organizations. Next month, Meyer and Nwankwo are scheduled to help present the findings of the NATA’s Task Force on Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Atlanta on June 14. Vanderbilt Student Athletics currently is purchasing 10 additional defibrillators for public access during the 2006-07 academic year. With the acquisition, a defibrillator will be available at every Commodore athletic facility and athletic trainers will travel with an AED to all Vanderbilt road competitions. |
