SCA Foundation News
August 2008

Welcome to SCA Foundation News, a service of the nonprofit Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation.
Our mission is to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and support programs that give ‘ordinary’ people the power to save lives.

SCA Foundation Announces National SCA Awareness Campaign for Schools

The SCA Foundation announced the You Can Save a Life™ National SCA Awareness Campaign for Schools and hosted a meeting with program partners during the Emergency Cardiac Care Update (ECCU) in June. The immediate goals of the campaign are to raise awareness about the prevention and treatment of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and motivate stakeholders to establish screening programs and CPR-AED training and response programs in schools.
>> read more

ECCU: Improving the Odds of Survival

About 1200 national and international CPR instructors, EMS providers and community champions attended the Emergency Cardiac Care Update (ECCU) in Las Vegas June 13-15th. “We are thrilled to be hosting ECCU in Las Vegas, highlighting the latest science and education in CPR and AED use in a community that has led the nation in this approach,” said Tom Aufderheide, MD, President of the Citizen CPR Foundation, which conducts the conference every two years.
>>  read more

Introducing the SCA Foundation Chairman

Bobby V. Khan, MD, PhD, has been elected the new chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors, taking the reins from Paul Pendergast, of Hartford, CT, who served as chairman in 2007, and Michael Sayre, MD, of Columbus, OH, who served as founding chairman in 2006.

“I want to increase the awareness of sudden cardiac death (SCD). It is a very prevalent problem that we face, with more people dying from it than any other cause,”....  
>>  read more

Without CPR, They Die - (Part 2 of our Hands-only CPR series)

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) involves mimicking two important organs, both of which are required to sustain life. The answer lies in the very term cardiopulmonary. Cardio is derived from the Greek kardia meaning heart or hollow vessel, and pulmonary from the Latin pulmonarius (of the lungs).
Thus CPR quite literally means resuscitation through circulation and breathing. Not just compressions, but ventilations as well. I’m sure you already know how important “pumping and blowing” is— it would be hard not to with all the time and effort spent on training during the last 40 years or so. But the solution to resuscitation is not quite that simple...
>> read more
>> How To Save a Life

SCA Foundation Honors Bystander

Roman Matlaga Receives First Ever ‘People Saving People™ Award‘
The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation presented its inaugural People Saving People™ (PSP) Award on June 15 in Las Vegas. The annual award program honors ‘ordinary‘ people with extraordinary heroic spirits, who help save the lives of victims of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). The Foundation proudly recognized Roman Matlaga, of Honesdale, PA,...
>> read more

What Can We Do To Honor Tim Russert’s Legacy?

When a high profile figure does something unusual, we all seem to hear about it. When they leave us we wonder why, and start to question our own vulnerabilities. On June 13, 2008 a not so unusual event occurred at the NBC studios in Washington DC. You may be surprised to learn that the same event occurs hundreds of time per day, and yet it seems sudden and shocking....
>> read more

Urge Your Legislators to Co-Sponsor National SCA Awareness Resolution

The SCA Foundation, along with other members of the SCA Coalition, urges you to help raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) by contacting your Senators and asking them to co-sponsor Senate Concurrent Resolution 93 (S.Con.Res. 93), supporting the establishment of October as yearly “National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month”. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Chip Pickering (R-MS) July 22.
>> Take action now!
>> more information about our support for the SCA Coalition