Archive - 2009 - Schools Article

Findings convince them children throughout the state should
be screened

In the U.S. there is a debate about whether young athletes
should undergo mandatory screening before playing sports. But now, some doctors
in Texas have come to believe that all children, athletes or not, should be
screened.

Brandon Williams was only 13 years old when he suffered a
fatal heart attack. Austin Sergeev was even younger - only 11 - when his heart
stopped beating. Children as young as eight have experienced sudden cardiac
arrest. In Italy, young athletes have a thorough medical exam that includes an
electrocardiogram.

The program has reduced the number of incidents of sudden
cardiac arrest, or heart attack, in these athletes.

NEW YORK, N.Y.– Rutgers women’s basketball
will square off with SEC rival No. 4/3 Tennessee in the Maggie Dixon Classic
this Sunday, Dec. 13 at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is set for approximately
3:00 p.m.  Prior to the match-up,
No. 6/6 Baylor and Boston College will square off at 1 p.m. The game will be
broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

This will be third-straight year that RU (7-4) has participated
in the Maggie Dixon Classic. Rutgers faced Army in each of the previous two
seasons. Last year, the Scarlet Knights defeated the Black Knights 59-38.

In Honor of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, Foundation Donates AEDs to Winning Schools

Pittsburgh, Penn. – The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation today announced the winners of its second video awareness contest. The student competition drove teams from across the country to submit videos about the impact of sudden cardiac arrest and the importance of CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) use, empowering students and communities to make a difference in helping to save lives.

The Grand Prize Winner is Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, Connecticut, with their inspiring video “How to Save a Life,” which tells the story of Larry Pontbriant, a fellow student recently lost to sudden cardiac arrest. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation will award the school with a new AED, three CPR Anytime™ kits, and a Nintendo Wii game system. The school intends to share their winnings with others in the community.



Chicago–College athletes are not supposed to have to worry
about going into cardiac arrest, but it happened to a 20-year-old from Chicago.

 On October 15, the first day of practice for the women’s
basketball team, Elizabeth Pearlman from Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood,
collapsed.

 “To stand here is moving, emotional, I’m so glad to be
back,” Pearlman said, choking back tears.

 More: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/athlete_gets_a_second_chance_at_life

St. Francis de Sales Catholic School Recognized for Winning Video

SALISBURY­–The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation today will
honor Saint Francis de Sales Catholic School in Salisbury, Maryland, for
winning the Foundation’s first video awareness contest. The school will be
awarded the grand prize--a new automated external defibrillator (AED). See www.sca-aware.org to view the winning
video.

2009 Genesis Awards Reception Held During National Sudden
Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month to Raise Awareness about the Nation’s Leading
Cause of Death

High school hero, Mike Piccione, was honored at the 2009
Genesis Awards Reception hosted by the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation on
October 15 at Hyde Park in Pittsburgh. Mike, a physical education teacher and
coach at Rhinebeck (NY) High School, was recognized for his role in saving the
life of Kaitlin Forbes when she suffered sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at the age
of 15 in 2005. He gave CPR and used the school’s automated external
defibrillator (AED), which restored a normal heart rhythm.

Kaitlin and
her friends later started the HeartSafe Club of Rhinebeck, in honor of
Maggie O'Malley, a friend and teammate from Rhinebeck High School who died from sudden cardiac arrest at the
age of 17.

The Pittsburgh Foundation will match contributions through PittsburghGives

PITTSBURGH–The Pittsburgh Foundation has initiated
“PittsburghGives Match Day”—October 28—a way for individuals and companies to
contribute to nonprofit organizations based in Allegheny County, PA, and make
their gifts go further. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is among those
approved to participate.

On Wednesday, October 28, 2009, beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST,
individuals may log onto www.PittsburghGives.org,
or participate in the live public event in the PPG Wintergarden, Downtown
Pittsburgh.

 KNOXVILLE -- Twenty-year-old Tennessee basketball player, Emmanuel Negedu, passed out during an on-campus workout. He was defibrillated at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center shortly after 3:00 p.m.

The 6'7" sophomore forward from Kaduna, Nigeria originally relocated to the U.S. to play high school basketball at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. He was kept overnight at UT Medical Center for further tests.

In Knox County, defibrillators are on hand for school athletic events, including practices and games. The use of a defibrillator before emergency services arrive often makes a difference between life and death.

Vols basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, accompanied Negedu to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for further testing. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a possible cause of the collapse.

ZOLL Medical Corporation (Nasdaq GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation today are jointly issuing a reminder in conjunction with SCA Awareness Month in October about the importance of having automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) available in schools and at athletic events. With the start of a new academic year and the onset of the fall athletic season, AEDs need to be available should a student, teacher, staff member, parent and/or visitor fall victim to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

Gearing up for National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, Contest Focuses on Lifesaving Skills