April 1, 2008­–DALLAS–Chest compressions alone, or Hands-Only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), can save lives and can be used to help an adult who suddenly collapses, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement. View the Science Advisory here

The statement, from the association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) committee, is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Hands-Only CPR is a potentially lifesaving option to be used by people not trained in conventional CPR or those who are unsure of their ability to give the combination of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing it requires. 

Study Finds AEDs Underused at Home

April 1, 2008­–CHICAGO­–The first study to explore the use of automated external defibrillator (AEDs) in the home has found that although the safe and easy-to-use devices are effective for certain types of cardiac arrest, they were underused. The Home Automated External Defibrillator Trial (HAT), a randomized international clinical trial, was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers will present their findings from the international study at the 2008 American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions in Chicago April 1. The results are being published online simultaneously by the New England Journal of Medicine and will appear in the April 24 print edition. An editorial by David Callans, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania accompanies the article

Survivor to Celebrate 85th Birthday March 17th

On January 16, 2007, my 84-year-old husband, Jerome Liebowitz, who had suffered a massive heart attack and six by-pass surgery in 2000, plus an attack of congestive heart failure in 2001, went into sudden cardiac arrest as we were sitting in our kitchen talking. I could see his body shudder and his head drop, his mouth fall open and his eyes open with no life in them.