The Myth of "Tongue Swallowing" Delays Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation of Athletes With Cardiac Arrest, Yet It Is Often Perpetuated by the Media.

BACKGROUND

tIn June 2021, during a Union of European Football Associations soccer competition, a Danish soccer player had cardiac arrest. Millions of spectators witnessed the event. The initial response of team players, attempting to prevent "tongue swallowing," was visible on television and was inaccurately portrayed as a "life-saving measure."

METHODS

From 1990 to 2024, we continuously searched the Internet for videos showing athletes undergoing resuscitation maneuvers after collapsing during competition, focusing on the first response. We also analyzed the news coverage of these resuscitation efforts.

RESULTS

We report 45 cases of athletes collapsing during sporting events that were caught on video or published and publicly available. When the first action was visible, an inappropriate response, including attempts to prevent tongue swallowing, preceded proper cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in 32 (84%) cases. Death or severe anoxic brain damage was more likely to follow cardiac arrest events when the victims were subjected to tongue-swallowing prevention maneuvers than when victims received CPR at first response (18 of 27 [67%] vs 0 of 3, P = 0.045). Twenty-eight cases were covered in a total of 84 news articles. The term "tongue swallowing" appeared in 40 articles and was generally praised, indicating that nearly half of the articles reinforced this misconception.

CONCLUSIONS

During bystander resuscitation of athletes with cardiac arrest, attempts to prevent "tongue swallowing are common and are associated with a poor prognosis. Still, such attempts are praised by the media. Education on proper CPR techniques should include a critical reassessment of the myth of tongue swallowing.