The sight of an athlete lying immobile on the field of play brings life-threatening fear to everyone who hears about it or witnesses it.

Seconds matter.

Twenty-eight years ago, while editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Massachusetts, the paper covered the cardiac arrest death of 16-year-old Quincy High hockey player Matthew Messing. He died Jan. 18, 1995, from a body check to the chest by a rival North Quincy High player.

Messing got up from the ice, skated a few strides and collapsed backward. He was lifeless at center ice and pronounced dead an hour later at Quincy City Hospital.

Seconds matter.

Monday night, Jan. 2, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin body-tackled Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, untangled himself, stood up, then collapsed backward to the ground.

Seconds matter.

Medical personnel sprinted from the sidelines, witnessed his motionless body and promptly applied CPR, oxygen and fibrillation for nine minutes. His heart beat was restored.

Seconds matter.

The stadium ambulance arrived. Hamlin was placed gingerly into it on a flat board and taken to the nearby University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further treatment and testing.

Seconds matter.

Doctors reported Hamlin experienced cardiac arrest – which can be caused by concussion of the heart at the exact moment it resets normal rhythm. The medical term for this is commotio cordis.

Hamlin’s condition is improving. Doctors have been checking out every possibility, including his heart history.

Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said last week at a press conference there’s been theories and discussion “about commotio cordis (as the cause) and that certainly is possible.”

He further explained it can happen if “the right type of blow hitting at the right spot on the chest with the right amount of force at just the right time in that cardiac cycle. So a lot of things have to line up for that to happen.”

Seconds matter.

“Fortunately, the NFL knows that. It conducts training for health emergencies at league stadiums before and during the season.

Before each game, a mandatory “60 minutes meeting” is held with team doctors, trainers, EMTs and head referees. Discussion includes medical responsibilities, procedures, equipment and ambulance location in the stadium.

Cardiac arrest is unusual during a game, yet training to recognize it and deal with it rapidly is required.

Seconds matter.

Dr. Sills and Troy Vincent, the league’s top executive for football operations, said the doctors, EMTs, trainers and other medical personnel executed to perfection during the Damar Hamlin emergency.

“You gave our brother, Damar, another day to live, another chance to fight,” said Vincent, a former All-Pro NFL defensive secondary player.

It did not work out that way for Quincy High’s Matthew Messing. Nor other athletes who have died from cardiac arrest over the years – though, we pray, not in vain.

Medical procedures, awareness and training for treatment have progressed at all levels of sports competition. Medical experts say three things are helpful to saving lives: the right medical personnel, the right equipment in place and rapid response.

Seconds matter.

Bill Ketter is the senior vice president of news for CNHI, LLC. Reach him at wketter@cnhi.com.