The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and developments in sudden cardiac arrest prevention and treatment.
Taking Steps to Improve CPR Quality
DALLAS, TX--Robert H. Trenkamp, Jr.< EMT-P, and Fernando J. Perez, MD, of Saving Lives in Chatham County, Georgia, have calculated the gap between the requirements of the AHA chest compression guidelines and the physical capability of 50 individuals. Using chest stiffness data from P. Aelen, et al., they found that on the average, manual… Read More
Rural and Southern Regions Lack Annual Training in CPR
DURHAM, NC--Annual rates of CPR training in the United States are low and vary widely across the country, but the communities most in need of training are the least likely to be trained, according to a new study from the Duke Clinical Research Institute. The findings, published Nov. 18, 2013, in JAMA Internal Medicine, add to known geographic… Read More
Many Sudden Cardiac Arrests Preceded by Warning Signs
DALLAS, TX--Sudden cardiac arrest isn’t always so sudden, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2013. In a study of middle-age men in Portland, Oregon, more than half had possible warning signs up to a month before their hearts stopped abruptly. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops due to a… Read More
Lowering Temperature on Way to Hospital Does Not Improve Outcome
DALLAS, TX— Lowering cardiac arrest patients’ body temperature with cold intravenous fluids right after resuscitation and on the way to the hospital didn’t help survival or neurological outcome in a late-breaking clinical trial presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2013. With a cardiac arrest, the heart stops beating… Read More
AHA and ACC Defend New Guidelines
DALLAS, TX--The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology vigorously defend the recently published risk assessment and cholesterol guidelines despite recent media reports critical of the risk assessment calculator tool. “We stand behind our guidelines, the process that was used to create them and the degree to which they were… Read More
Wearable Defibrillator Can Bridge the Gap to Implanted Device
MINNEAPOLIS, MN--A lightweight defibrillator is an option for some patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. It’s a noninvasive way to keep a patient alive when doctors are trying to determine the next step for a damaged heart. Scott Olson was asleep in the quiet darkness of his daughter’s home in north central Minnesota, when the lightweight… Read More
Law Enforcement Agencies Putting AED Devices in Patrol Cars
With just minutes to save a life using an automated external defibrillator, communities around the country are boosting response times by making the lifesaving devices standard equipment in police cruisers. Whether it's a suburban Atlanta officer heading home who sped to a nearby office building to shock a man's heart back to life, a pair… Read More
Study Compares Outcomes of Device For Chest Compressions vs. Manual CPR
DALLAS, TX--Sten Rubertsson, M.D., Ph.D., of Uppsala University, Sweden and colleagues assessed whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in which chest compressions are delivered with a mechanical device would result in superior 4-hour survival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared to CPR with manual chest compression. “Many… Read More
More, Faster Hypothermia No Better After Cardiac Arrest
Strategies to cool out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients more or faster had little extra impact on outcomes, two trials showed. In one, maintaining hypothermia at 33°C (91°F) didn't reduce mortality or its composite with poor neurologic outcome compared with a more modest 36°C (97°F) to largely prevent fever (P=0.51 and P=0.78), Niklas Nielsen,… Read More