Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris saved a child's life over the weekend

Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris found himself in the midst of a dire situation over the weekend while at a Las Vegas hotel pool. A three-year-old boy was pulled out of the pool and was unresponsive, that’s when Morris sprang into action.

Using the training he received as a football coach, the Rams coordinator moved quickly to find the nearest AED, or automatic external defibrillator.

Morris recounted to ESPN on Wednesday the series of events that resulted in the young boy surviving the scary incident.

“I saw people calling 911, so my first question was, where is the AED?” Morris told ESPN on Wednesday. “When I got back, we had a doctor on site that was able to start the compressions. I was able to hand the AED to him, get it open for him, put the pads on the child, and he ended up being OK.”

Rams COO praises Morris’ quick thinking, training

Rams Chief Operations Officer Kevin Demoff praised Morris and tipped his cap to the L.A. training staff for putting the coach in the position to make the life-saving move.

“An amazing story of quick thinking in the moment by Raheem Morris & grateful to Reggie Scott for training our staff on CPR & AED,” Demoff posted. “Very possibly seeing the life-saving CPR Damar Hamlin received inspired our organization to get trained & saved another life. CPR & AEDs save lives.”

Although the NFL has historically put an emphasis on training its coaches and staff personnel in life-saving measures such as the AED, the issue moved further into the spotlight after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went down on the field during the 2022 season. He took a hard hit to the chest, which resulted in commotio cordis, a sudden cardiac arrest.

Since his medical incident, Hamlin has become a great advocate for furthering the NFL’s training efforts, as well as CPR training at all levels of sports. The Bills had training sessions for CPR and AEDs in the first week that the defensive back returned to practice.

According to the American Heart Association, with prompt CPR and defibrillation, the survival and recovery rates after commotio cordis are greater than 50%.

Hamlin has opted to return to the football field after doing extensive research about the risks. Since commotio cordis is not linked to other heart issues, it is very rare for someone to suffer the condition more than once or experience more heart-related incidents.