Archive - Feb 2009 - SCA Article

TUPELO, MS - The line between life and death is often separated by seconds, which is why the Tupelo Police and Lee County Sheriff's departments say having automated external defibrillators in patrol cars can help to save lives.

The Weston Reed Foundation has donated 21 AEDs to the Tupelo Police Department and Lee County Sheriff's Department, and officers received training on how to use them Tuesday. Each machine costs more than $2,000 and will arrive soon.

Tupelo Police Officers Robert Vail and David Harvel instructed the course for officers and deputies at the Tupelo Police Academy.

Because police officers are often the first people on emergency scenes, Vail said the AED is a important life-saving tool.

Be Careful Where You Stay, Says SCA Foundation

“If your heart stops suddenly, you may not want to be at a hotel,” reports Scott Mc Cartney in today’s Wall Street Journal.

RESUSCITATE! How Your Community Can Improve Survival from Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone at any time. But in many cities, people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest are up to 46 times more likely to die than those who experience cardiac arrest in Seattle and King County, Washington, or Rochester, Minnesota--an astonishing and completely preventable variance in survival rates.

PITTSBURGH, PA – Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) threatens lives every day in classrooms and sports fields across the country. To help save more lives, the Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Foundation has launched an awareness campaign for schools that includes a mini-magazine, You Can Save a Life at School(TM), and a companion website, www.sca-aware.org/schools.

“Schools have the power—and the moral responsibility—to protect the lives of students, faculty, staff and visitors. With simple preparation, you can save a life at school,” said Bobby Khan, MD, PhD, chairman of the SCA Foundation Board of Directors, and Assistant Professor of Medicine/Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

My name is Greta Standish. I am a mother of 5 and I am 39 years old and also 2 ½ years old.

September 2, 2006 was the day my life changed forever. The first part of my story will be told from the recollection of others – the story may be incomplete because my husband, who is a major part in this story does not like to talk about this. It is simply too painful. It is easier for me because I don't remember. I am almost a third party to the entire experience.

We were in Vicksburg, Michigan with my husband's extended family, celebrating Labor Day. I was sitting at my mother-in-laws kitchen table, making peach salsa and talking to my husband's cousins. Mid-sentence, I went stiff. My husband's cousin went to find my husband, Brian, and told him that it looked like I was having a seizure. Brian came over, and found me in the chair with my eyes opened and glazed. I wasn't breathing and had no pulse.

It started like any other day, but I decided to exercise first thing that
Thursday morning. At 7 a.m., my heart stopped pumping blood while I was
exercising at the YMCA, and I nearly died. Before my heart went into
ventricular fibrillation, I was the picture of health. Although I had a
pre-existing heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or
"Athlete's Heart," I had never been on any medication. I was always active
in the gym and played football throughout my youth and then at the
University of Virginia.

 On Father's Day 2007, I fell down dead just feet from the finish line of
the Latta Plantation Triathlon. I don't mean that I was exhausted. I mean
my heart stopped beating. An EMT, one of eight who worked to revive me,
recalls my last breath. I only remember a few seconds of dizziness and then
darkness.

Michaela Gagne, Fall River, MA – 15 at time of event (1998)

As a teenager Michaela was not thinking about crowns and gowns. She preferred shorts and boots—soccer boots that is. Despite her ambition to be a Division 1 player Michaela was crowned Miss Massachusetts in 2006 and went on to compete for the title of Miss America 2007. Her platform issue was Heart Health: Listen, Learn, and Live. How is it that a self-confessed tomboy suddenly started entering beauty pageants?

Family: Defibrillator wasn't used in time

MORRIS, N.J. -- Thomas Durkin wasn't just an emergency medical technician. The former president of the Kendall Park First Aid Squad was passionate about safety.

That's why his family believes the South Brunswick man knew he was within inches of a device that could have helped save him after he collapsed at the Hillsborough Pool, Racquet & Fitness Club on Jan. 8, 2007.

Durkin, 44, went into cardiac arrest while playing racquetball. As he started turning blue, someone called 911 and a staff member rushed over with an automated external defibrillator, or AED. The portable machine delivers an electric shock to the heart and helps the muscle resume its normal beat.

Eight months earlier the AED that saved Gary was installed at the Austin airport security checkpoint. Gary collapsed within 18 feet of the AED and was revived with the unit within four minutes. He lives to tell the tale. You can see it all happen, the rescue was captured on the security camera! - click here for the CNN video.