Archive - May 2009

DALLAS-- Senior offensive tackle Matt Nader felt like his chest exploded when he collapsed on the sidelines at his high school football game. Quick action by his parents who knew cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the availability of an onsite automated external defibrillator (AED) saved his life.

The American Heart Association wants a million people to learn CPR as part of National CPR & AED Awareness Week, June 1-7, to help save cardiac arrest victims like Matt. The week encourages the public to get CPR training and learn how to use an AED. It also encourages them to log their training on the association's Web site. The site will feature a live map that will update in real time when people submit their information.

Many of you have written to share your concerns about short term memory loss after survival from sudden cardiac arrest.

It may be comforting to know you are not alone. Many survivors in our registry report memory loss and other cognitive changes.

 Hi! My name is Shannon Griggs, and I am a wife and mother-of-two living in the small town of Arab, Alabama. 

On March 5, 2009, I was at home from work getting ready for my grandfather's funeral. Of course, I don't remember any of this or much of the month prior to this, so I rely on the recollections of my closest family and friends. Because of the occasion, my husband and daughters were also at home with me at the time which was uncharacteristic for a typical work/school day. I would have otherwise been at the middle school in our city school system where I work as the library media specialist.

Check out the National CPR/AED Awareness website cprweek.org!

Let's see what we can do to help the American Heart Association reach their goal of 1 million trained!

Contribution will place and provide training for 200 AEDs across Canada

Edmonton, Alberta–The Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) today announced a $1 million contribution by the Boston Pizza Foundation to its national Heart&Stroke Restart a Heart, Restart a Life(TM) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) program. The contribution will support the allocation, training and installation of 200 AEDs in public places across the country over the next five years.
   

In late 2007, Congress declared the first week of June as “National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week.”

The Congressional resolution shines a national spotlight on how important it is for all Americans to learn critical lifesaving skills such as how to perform CPR, how to use an AED and the need to increase public access to AEDs.

House members Reps. John R. “Randy” Kuhl, Jr. (R-NY) and Dan Boren (D-OK) co-sponsored the House version of the bill (H.Con.Res. 215), and Sens. Russell Feingold (D-W) and Susan Collins (R-ME), championed the Senate version (S.Con.Res. 54), working with the American Heart Association and American Red Cross.

Last June, nationwide ceremonies, community activities and educational outreach efforts were conducted across the country.

What are you doing to celebrate CPR-AED Awareness week this year?

Bobby Khan, MD, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Medicine/Cardiology at Emory University

Drake University senior Cassaundra Koenen missed the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony Saturday morning because her father, Glenn Koenen, suffered a heart attack in the stands at the Drake Knapp Center about a half hour before the ceremony, which began at 10 a.m.

Drake staff members, along with an emergency room nurse and a doctor in the audience, came to Glenn Koenen's aid.

Annie Swanson, an ER nurse at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, was there to watch the graduation of her niece, Molly Rafmussen.

"I was four rows in front of him and someone yelled 'Is there a nurse or doctor?' So I turned around and hopped over the bleachers and went over to him," Swanson said.

Defibrillator lead wires need better surveillance to detect defects, a group of heart doctors has said. The Heart Rhythm Society also called on hospitals to train doctors in the delicate procedure of removing such wires from patients.

A lead is a wire that connects an implantable defibrillator to the heart. If a lead breaks, the defibrillator can emit a massive and painful shock. And in the worse case scenario, the fractured lead can prevent a defibrillator from sending a necessary, lifesaving shock to the heart.

Replacing a lead is not an easy procedure, as the invasive surgery can cause the tissue of the blood vessels and heart to tear.

New Application for CPR and Choking Available for IPhone and Google Phone

Mickey Eisenberg, MD, renowned researcher from the University of Washington, has announced release of a free new Apple application that instructs users how to treat victims of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and choking.

"Getting the message on how to do CPR to as many people as possible is crucial if we are to save more lives," Dr. Eisenberg told the SCA Foundation. "Some people are reluctant to sign up for a formal course so we have to try to reach these folks in different ways. Using the web and developing applications for the iPhone and Google phone are ways to reach a broader audience. Plus it helps people who have been trained to refresh their skills. Watching a one minute video on your computer or phone is no replacement for formal training but it sure is better than nothing."