CINCINNATI —

Doctors are working to determine what caused a Buffalo Bills football player to collapse after taking a hit during the Monday night game with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bills defensive player Damar Hamlin is being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where experts are looking at all possibilities.

“They’re looking at his coronary arteries, looking at his heart musculature, looking at his potential for arrhythmias and whatnot, and seeing if those are the predominant cause,” said the co-director of the sports cardiology center at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Tamamna Singh. “That will dictate what the treatment strategy will be.”

Singh said what happened during the hit is also a major factor.

“Blows to the chest can also trigger abnormal heart rhythms that can cause cardiac arrest. So, there's a whole host of things that we want to evaluate before we kind of speculate what the cause was in this particular case,” Singh said.

Among the most important part of the treatment was the attention given immediately on the field.

Medical teams used an electronic device known as an AED.

“What it stands for is an automated external defibrillator, meaning if you put the pads on and you don't need to be shocked, it's not going to call for a shock. So, it is truly automated,” said American Heart Association Alyson Poling.

Poling said CPR compressions were also important to circulate oxygen to the brain.

“As an adult, we have a lot of oxygen built up, but if nothing is circulating that oxygen, things will start to die off. So, truly what we call hands only or that compressions on the chest is first and foremost, especially in adults,” Poling said.

There's new attention on ensuring an automatic external defibrillator, also known as an AED, is accessible in youth sports.

An AED helped save Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's life when he went into cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the number one killer of student-athletes.

Research shows that having an AED on-site increases someone's chance of survival from 8% to 80%.

Craig Goldenfarb runs the nonprofit organization Heart in the Game, which donates AEDs to venues that host youth sports.

He said money is just one of the major obstacles preventing organizations and schools from acquiring AEDs.

"Just like a fire extinguisher, you have to maintain it," he said. "You got to keep the batteries live. You got to keep the electrodes live."

He also notes that policies about where and how AEDs are stored have to be in place.

However, help could come from a bill moving through Congress. The Access to AEDs Act would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to give grants to institutions that put AEDs in schools.

Sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes is usually caused by an undiagnosed heart condition, according to the Sports Institute.

Craig said parents should be proactive to protect their children.

"When you go to your pediatrician, ask them if they have an EKG machine because that will catch any abnormality," he said. "It's not part of a normal routine, physical for a child, but it should be."

The way a jellyfish swims can be compared to how a human heart beats — at least that's what Harvard bioengineering professor Kit Parker thought when he took his daughter to the aquarium years ago.

"So, I'm looking at these jelly fish swimming, and my daughter's a toddler then. She's, like, running around," Parker said. "And I'm thinking, 'Wow, so that thing beats just like the heart, and it's small enough — I bet I could build that.'"

Parker is one of the researchers behind a bio-hybrid robotic fish powered by human heart cells. He hopes the project can help researchers learn more about the human heart and, eventually, create an artificial heart one day.

"Ultimately, our goal is to build a heart for a child born with a malformed part," Parker said. "We learned a lot. We learned now about how to build muscular pumps with human cardiac biophysics, build a fish out of human cells and how to keep them alive for a long time."

Researchers at the University of Vermont and Tufts University recently released new research on what they say is a living robot, called xenobots. The bio-hybrid fish also fall under the living robot category.

But unlike xenobots that keep evolving, the bio-hybrid fish have been destroyed. Parker says we won't see them again, and they were solely used as a training tool.

He plans to continue his research into building a successful artificial heart.

National Wear Red Day falls on the first Friday in February and is an annual campaign meant to raise awareness about heart disease in women. 

The national campaign urges women to learn their risk for heart disease and to take steps to lower their risk. Although heart disease is said to be about 80% preventable, it causes one out of every three deaths in women each year.

You can help spread the word by dressing in red and also encouraging women to learn their risks. According to The American Heart Association, smoking, sedentary lifestyles, a family history of the illness, diabetes, stress, inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s, along with complications during pregnancy and menopause can increase a woman’s chances of being diagnosed with heart disease.

Let’s go! It's #WearRedDay! So crank up the tunes, get on your feet and rock your red for women’s heart health. pic.twitter.com/ezzDSMb1OL

— GoRedforWomen (@GoRedForWomen) February 4, 2022

As the CDC notes, only around half of women recognize that heart disease is the number one killer for women. It is the leading cause of death in women in the United States, and killed 299, 578 women in 2017 alone, which equates to about 1 in every 5 female deaths the CDC said.

Talk to your doctor if you're experiencing symptoms the CDC says are associated with heart disease like angina, pain the the neck, jaw, or throat or pain in the upper abdomen or back.

For more information on National Wear Red Day visit www.goredforwomen.org

This story was originally published by Alex Livingston of Newsy.

Jean Theard is miraculously still around despite being in full cardiac arrest a few months ago."Last thing I remember is coming out of the bathroom after chewing a few aspirins because I couldn't find my nitro. Came out of the bathroom, that was it, light's out," Theard said.Theard was happy to be surrounded by lifesavers at the Seminole County, Florida, fire station closest to his home.Seminole County’s Deputy Chief Matt Kinley was ready to give out some lifesaving awards.“We've got someone walking around that might not have been,” Kinley said.It was July and Theard's heart had stopped. His girlfriend got CPR coaching from 911 as rescuers rolled."Anything that could have gone right, went right,” Lt. Stephen Armstrong said.Station 26 got there in under five minutes and brought him back. But they needed to get his stopped heart going again on the way to the hospital."They get them to us. If they didn't get them to us, we couldn't do the magic that we do,” Linda Hardison of Orlando Health said.When Theard heard awards were being delivered to the crew which saved him, he said he had to be there in person."My girlfriend called, they responded and here I am,” Theard said.Certainly, as Theard slides into this year's Thanksgiving table, in the back of his mind, he'll be thinking about the importance of one of those fire rescue crews.“ is going to taste real good this year. I have a birthday coming up on Monday too,” Theard said.Plenty of reasons to celebrate."If it wasn't for them, like you say, Thanksgiving would be pretty dull without me around,” Theard said.Theard said he never misses a chance to thank a first responder.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. —

A teenager from North Carolina is showing progress after fighting COVID-19 for nearly 10 days, his family said.

Kaden Panico, 17, of Winston-Salem, was admitted to the ICU at Brenner Children's Hospital Wednesday. He was dehydrated and there was damage to his heart and kidneys upon his admission to the hospital.

Thursday marked his eighth day of fighting the virus.

Kaden Panico's mother, Lana Panico, said Thursday he was able to "finally speak a full sentence," after his body became weak and tired days prior.

Kaden was diagnosed with multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). According to the CDC, MIS-C is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. Many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19 or had been around someone with COVID-19.

"A lot of his organs are inflamed and working so very hard," Lana Panico said. "We are working hard to find the right combination of (medications) to help stabilize his heart so he can breathe at a safe pace again."

Lana Panico said she is worried about the lasting impacts on Kaden's heart.

"No one really knows too much right now," said Lana Panico.

Related video below: COVID-19 complications take Iowan teen from healthy to hospitalized

Kaden Panico's grandmother, Gerotha Burney, said the family wants to make sure that other teenagers know "this virus is real."

"So many of the teenagers think it can't happen to them," said Burney. "They just think they're not old enough for it. A teenager can get it just as easy as adults."

Kaden Panico is on the swim team and soccer team at Atkins High School. His future in sports is uncertain, his mother said.

"I dread the news that sports are finished for a while," Lana Panico said. "The likelihood of him playing is slim."

Burney said this is bothersome because "the family has no idea how he got it."

"The boy has worn a mask everywhere he went. He is not one to go out often. Even under these conditions, he still got it," Burney said.

Burney added that he goes to swim practice in the morning and goes to soccer practice in the afternoon.

"He practiced Monday and Tuesday and he came down with it on Thursday," Burney said. "One would think his body is strong enough to fight these germs off because of his working out all of the time. Obviously, it's not."

Burney added a plea to others in the community, especially children and teenagers, to take the virus seriously.

"Please, please be careful. Age and your good health mean nothing when COVID-19 strikes," Burney said. "Say a prayer for his recovery."

Barbarita Acosta, or affectionately nicknamed Barbie, is celebrating her first birthday this weekend. The infant already overcame extraordinary medical odds.

Barbie was born with neonatal lupus, a rare condition that attacked her heart. At just five days old she received a pacemaker. But after a few weeks, doctors said she needed to find a heart donor.

“They told us that very same day that by the end of the night she would be life-lifted out of there,” mother Angel Moreno said. “So, we came home and packed up as soon as we can. And we just got in the car and followed the helicopter. Tried to beat it there.”

Barbie spent more than 200 days at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.

“Barbie was born with a condition called neonatal lupus, which is a condition in which the mother has antibodies that can attack the baby while she is still in the mother’s womb,” Dr. Seth Hollander said. “Her condition is quite rare. Only about 1% of women will have these antibodies. And only about 2% of women with these antibodies have this kind of effect on the baby.”

Dr. Hollander is the medical director of Pediatric Heart Transplantation.

“About 500 heart transplants are performed in the country each year in children. However, among children under the age of one year are the hardest to find matches for,” he explained. “And infants waiting for heart transplants are the most likely group to pass away while waiting for a donor organ.”

Dr. Hollander said roughly 25% of infants waiting for a heart transplant will die while waiting.

"We are very grateful for whoever that anonymous donor family is for providing such a wonderful gift and a second chance for this little girl,” he said.

Barbie’s heart surgery happened in September when she was a little over six months old.

“It literally brought me to my knees. I was crying,” Moreno said. “We only had so long — I believe it was four hours — to make a decision if we wanted the heart or not. So, it was a really hard decision because there were so many good and bads to both sides of saying yes or no to accepting the heart.”

And COVID-19 protections complicated an already dire road.

“Oh man it was really scary because nobody could really be there to support us,” Moreno explained. “There was actually a long period of time where dad was not allowed to come into the hospital because they were only letting one parent in.”

Barbie’s surgery was a success. And she went home to Sacramento, California, just before Thanksgiving.

Dr. Hollander added Barbie's future is very bright. She has no transplant rejection and is catching up on her developmental milestones.

He expects the heart to last for several decades, allowing Barbie to grow up pretty much like a normal kid.

“When I look at her it’s really hard to believe she’s had a heart transplant because she acts so much like a baby,” Moreno said.

“It’s amazing to know that when we first found out, we weren’t sure if we were going to have a baby, to now, we’re celebrating her first birthday coming up. So, that’s really great.”

LONDON — Buckingham Palace says Prince Philip has had a successful heart procedure in a London hospital.

The palace says the 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, “underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.”

It said he is expected to remain in hospital for treatment, rest and recuperation for a number of days.”

Philip has been hospitalized since being admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Feb. 16, where he was treated for an infection.

On Monday he was transferred to a specialized cardiac care hospital, St. Bartholomew’s.

Daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, said Wednesday that Philip’s condition was “slightly improving.”