The Science Behind the Standardization of Chest Protectors: Is Marketing Alone Enough to Sell Chest Protectors?... Not Anymore!

Abstract

n January 2, 2023, 21 million spectators worldwide witnessed 25-year-old Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills collapse after taking a direct hit to his chest while playing in an American National Football League game. The leading theory is that Hamlin collapsed due to commotio cordis. 1 Commotio cordis or agitation of the heart as translated from Latin, refers to the event of sudden death secondary to ventricular arrhythmias triggered by high-impact blunt chest trauma, without damage to the thoracic cage or heart injury, and in the absence of underlying cardiovascular disease. 2