When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went down on the field during the first quarter of Monday night’s NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals, three teams of medical and health professionals went into action and saved his life. The health-care providers came from those assisting each of the NFL teams and the league’s stadium medical unit.

“It’s certainly not an exaggeration to say that the skilled and the immediate response by all of these talented caregivers prevented a very tragic outcome at that moment,” Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said on Wednesday. “Certainly, we never want to see events like this occur, but if there were to be a medical emergency, there was absolutely the right team with the right equipment and the right training on site able to provide care.”

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At any NFL game, 30 people, on average, are ready to provide medical assistance to players, according to the league.

On Monday night, Hamlin needed it quickly after he went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle. Hamlin had his heart restarted on the turf at Paycor Stadium before he was transported to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition, but “with signs of improvement,” the Bills reported.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor highlighted the work of the health-care teams during his press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

“I’d also like to point out a lot of other people I thought just did an outstanding job handling the situation the other day — all the medical professionals that are involved,” Taylor said. “The Bills trainers, the Bills doctors, our trainers, our doctors, the paramedics, the emergency-response team, I thought that they were on it. They were composed. It was obviously a complicated situation on the field that everybody was trying to process, and for me personally, being down there and seeing the composure that everybody involved had, obviously not knowing how the situation was going to unfold, I was led to believe it was going to be positive because of how they handled it.

“And I think that’s important to point out that they were prepared, and they gave Damar the best chance. That was well-done by all of them, and I was really impressed and thankful for the work they put in to be ready for moments like that, and the way they handled it, I think, was important for everybody to see.

“I also want to point out University Hospital — the doctors and nurses that are over there helping Damar and his family, the security over there that’s doing their best to allow them to maintain their privacy.”

On average, each NFL team has four athletic trainers, two primary-care physicians, two orthopedists and one chiropractor available at each game, according to the NFL. Each team also has an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant on its sideline assigned by the league and the NFL Players Association.

The league’s stadium medical team includes two certified athletic trainer spotters, one unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant, one airway-management physician, one radiology technician, one dentist, one ophthalmologist, one visiting-team medical liaison and an EMT/paramedic crew.

The visiting-team liaison is an emergency-medicine physician certified to practice in the state where the game is being played who helps the visiting team’s physicians have access to what they need.

The unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants – one on each sideline and one in the press box – monitor the game and work with team medical staffs to diagnose concussions.

The certified athletic trainer spotters have a private booth in the press box. They monitor the field and use video replay to identify players with potential head and neck injuries for further examination by the medical personnel on the field.

The airway-management physician is available to provide intubation for non-breathing players.

A radiology technician is on standby because X-rays can be taken at each NFL stadium.

“I want to echo and express my own thanks and really my admiration to the incredible team of health-care providers and caregivers,” Sills said, “starting in the moment on field with the medical staff of Buffalo and Cincinnati as well as all of the independent medical personnel who were present – the airway doctor, the visiting-team medical liaison, the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants, the paramedics, everyone who acted together in that moment and, of course, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, which is an outstanding trauma center and has taken the lead in providing care.”

Sills said the medical personnel were able to save Hamlin because of “the three ‘E’s:’”

· Emergency action plan: “Every stadium and every training facility has a very detailed plan that describes for a variety of medical emergencies exactly what needs to happen,” Sills said. “They describe the roles, the responsibilities, the necessary equipment and the flow of care that needs to occur.”

· Equipment: “We obviously have all of the equipment necessary to support life-threatening emergencies, whether that be AEDs or defibrillators, airway equipment, advanced monitoring equipment,” Sills said. “And not only is that equipment present at the stadium, but it’s widely available at each club’s training facility — not just on the practice field, but in the weight room and in common areas. Every one of our clubs travels with this equipment, so it’s with them on airplanes, in hotels, wherever they may go so we’re prepared to deal with just this exact type of cardiac emergency.”

· Enhanced preparation: “Every one of our clubs practices and drills on these exact scenarios every year before the season starts,” Sills said. “They gather all the emergency personnel and team medical personnel together, we have a third-party vendor who comes in and actually goes through real-time scenarios using mannequins and other simulators to practice these exact situations so that we are absolutely prepared and know who needs to do what and how it needs to occur.”

Sills did not provide an update on Hamlin’s condition or elaborate on the cause of his emergency in addressing reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

“I know there’s been a lot of speculation about the cause of this situation,” Sills said, “and I don’t really want to address that in too much detail today because I think there’s still a lot of investigation that needs to happen to understand that. Many people have discussed this condition commotio cordis, and it certainly is possible.

“But I think what’s more important is that regardless of the cause, the key in any type of sudden cardiac event is the rapid response of trained personnel. And so I think the important lesson that we can all take away from this is, really for every sport at every level, preparation for a sudden cardiac event, making sure that people have training in basic life supports, that AEDs are available. That is a very, very key message, and something we can all learn from.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.