Archive - 2008 - SCA Article

Doug Chrisman, 18, Hyde Park, NY – 18 at time of event (2008)

Monday morning, 7:30am, Doug was busy skimming the stock in preparation for that day’s class. The stock didn’t make it. Doug did. His classmates at the CIA (The Culinary Institute of America that is) saw the freshman from Missouri collapse, and one of them ran to get the nurse. The chef called the Safety Office and an AED was immediately brought to the scene. Doug was unresponsive and his pulse had disappeared, his face was turning blue — they only had minutes before he would die.

Todd Black, Seattle, WA – 56 at time of event (2008)

Todd is an avid Randonneur, that is he likes to get on his bicycle and leave town for an extended trip. This is called a Randonnée, which is a French word that means excursion or long journey. Randonneurs do not compete exactly, they think of it as more a test of endurance, self-sufficiency and developing their bicycle touring skills. Just the pronunciation is difficult enough, let alone cycling over several hundred miles in a specified time period!

One Sunday morning last month, Marty, Todd’s wife, got a phone call to say he had fallen off his bike. She put her head down on her desk and cried. This was the second time she had received a call from the paramedics. That first time it had been nearly midnight in Spring, and she learned that, although Todd hadn’t broken any bones, he had suffered some serious damage. This time she expected something bad had happened, but not this bad.

Paul Rittenhouse, Northport, NY – 45 at time of event (2005)

One warm Friday summer afternoon, Paul was on his way to get a new gadget for his sailboat. He’d just revitalized a 22 foot Ensign sailboat and needed a tension gauge to check the mainstays. He didn’t make it. Instead he crashed the car. It wasn’t exactly his fault, he was clinically dead at the time he collided with a tree on the side of the road, just outside the fire station and opposite a supermarket. The impact was not enough to deploy the airbags, but it did total his Jeep. Paul doesn’t have any recollection of the accident, nor much of the week in hospital afterwards. He knows what happened because he stays in contact with the witness who saved his life.

Tara Heinle, Rapid City, SD – 34 at time of event (2008)

Tara and her husband, Todd, were taking a little time out after their summer vacation, and prior to the in-laws arriving for a visit. Luckily, they were at home that Wednesday morning.
Tara had just brushed her teeth, and was preparing for the morning shower. There was a noise, and her husband asked “What fell?” He got no answer and proceeded to investigate. Todd saw Tara on the floor of the bathroom. She had a certain look about her, and despite her being his wife, the look was familiar to him.
“My husband is a police officer and he said, ‘I’ve seen that look before,” and he started CPR right away.” First, he called 9-1-1.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It took five mighty shocks to get Cynthia Crawford's heart to start beating again after she collapsed at Ochsner Clinic a few weeks ago. A dramatic rescue, to be sure, yet it was routine care she could have had at any hospital. What came next, though, was not. As she lay unconscious, barely clinging to life, doctors placed her in an inflatable cocoon-like pool that sprayed her naked body with hundreds of icy cold jets of water, plunging her into hypothermia.

"Like jumping in the North Sea," said the cardiologist leading her care, Dr. Paul McMullan.

Days later, Crawford was recovering without the brain damage she might have suffered.

Don't Hold Off Chest Compressions if Cardiac Patient Is Gasping

People in cardiac arrest need CPR -- even if they're gasping for air.

Bystanders, and even some doctors, sometimes hold off giving CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) if a collapsed cardiac patient is still struggling to breathe. That could be a big mistake.

Cardiac arrest patients are more than five times more likely to survive if bystanders attempt resuscitation while the patient is still gasping, say Bentley J. Bobrow, MD, director of Arizona emergency medical services, and colleagues.

"Gasping is most frequent soon after collapse, and decreases with time," they note. "Bystander resuscitation efforts markedly improve survival in patients who are gasping from cardiac arrest."

Pittsburgh, PA–Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the nation’s leading cause of death and tragically claimed the life of NBC journalist Tim Russert and thousands of others last summer. The National Press Club book fair this week features the SCA Foundation and Jeremy Whitehead, whose story, “A Heart Too Good to Die - A Shocking Story of Sudden Cardiac Arrest,” depicts his wife Carolyn’s triumph over near death. Whitehead directs the Foundation’s national SCA Survivor Registry. “Challenging Sudden Death: A Community Guide to Help Save Lives,” co-authored by Mary Newman, SCA Foundation president, and Jim Christenson, MD, also will be highlighted. The SCA Foundation will also be recognized at the NPC Annual Awards Dinner.

Physicians Rank Increased Bystander CPR, Faster Patient-to-Doctor Time, Data Collection and Technology as Critical Improvement Areas in Resuscitation

Washington, D.C. – A new State of Resuscitation survey released today by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) finds an overwhelming majority (90 percent) of the emergency physicians surveyed believe that resuscitation practices in the United States are not very effective. Emergency physicians cite increased bystander CPR, faster patient-to-doctor time, improved data collection and sharing, and greater use of technology as critical to improving resuscitation for victims of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

Mark Storace, Rocklin, CA – 46 at time of event (2007)

It was just another Tuesday afternoon in August. I am lucky enough in my job to be able to telecommute from home once a week. It was a fairly busy day taking conference call meetings and working on project tasks.

Scott Berens, Austin, TX – 27 at time of event (2008)

 Scott has the nickname ironman because he was continually partaking in extreme sports and athletic activities. Well, Scott can now truly live up to the name; he has a bionic addition. It was not by choice, and might even cramp his style a little, not that he would willingly let that happen of course. You see he recently had an ICD fitted under his pectoral muscle. It is there to protect him from another cardiac arrest. He is one of the lucky few to have survived his first one.