Archive - May 2009 - SCA Article

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.

 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.

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.
   

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."

The use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public places such as subways can save lives, new research from Germany shows.

A study of AEDs installed in Munich subways found they saved the lives of 12 people suffering heart attacks since the AEDs' installation in 2001. The defibrillators are increasingly common in public facilities, office buildings and transit stations across the United States and Europe.

The results of the study, the first to look at publicly accessible AEDs, were to be presented May 13 at Heart Rhythm 2009, the Heart Rhythm Society's annual scientific session in Boston.

The 44 defibrillators installed at 37 Munich stations come with written instructions and use voice and visual prompts to instruct would-be rescuers how to use them. They can only be operated after alerting emergency personal.

High Risk Patients Live Longer with ICD Therapy

SCA Foundation Participates as Stakeholder

The Joint Commission (JC) conducted a national stakeholder panel on Sudden Cardiac Arrest Performance Measurement on April 22 in Chicago. The panel was tasked with: