Archive - Feb 9, 2012

Dan Grecoe, Andover, MA – 42 at time of event (2011)

It all started with a skiing accident. Knee surgery meant Dan was sidelined from all the sports activity he enjoyed. Finally he’d been given the green light to get back to running. Early Monday morning in September he went to the local YMCA with a friend to get back in shape. Just a little jogging on the treadmill, maybe some weights. Except they didn’t get that far.

LONDON, Ontario – Up to 45,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur each year in Canada, and less than five percent survive. In some of these cases, the event cannot be explained by the presence of underlying heart disease. In order to identify people at risk of these unexplained cardiac events, a newly published study examined the presence of certain warning symptoms that are present in people who have been resuscitated from a cardiac arrest. The research found that over a quarter of unexplained cardiac arrests occurred after the patient had an event of fainting, known as syncope. Patients also had frequent chest pain and palpitations.

NORTHAMPTON, MA - As he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his mother, 13-year-old George Hamilton says he was driven by a Bee Gees song.

"I was kinda going, 'Stayin' alive, Stayin' alive,'" he said recently, mimicking the compressions he delivered to the beat of the 1977 disco classic.

The teen's efforts, paramedics say, helped save Claire Hamilton, who suffered sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) recently.

"I think it's really amazing that he had the presence of mind to do a quick check, realize it wasn't working, call 911 and follow their directions," said Claire. "I am really proud of him."

Amherst Fire Chief Walter "Tim" Nelson called the eighth-grader's effort's "critical. "Without him it falls apart because he was the only one there," Nelson said.