The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and developments in sudden cardiac arrest prevention and treatment.
Real-World ICD Patient Survival Matches Trial Expectations
Patients who received an implantable heart defibrillator in everyday practice had survival benefits on par with those who received the same devices in carefully controlled clinical trials, according to a new study that highlights the value of defibrillators in typical medical settings. Led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute and published Jan… Read More
New Hope for Stopping Sudden Cardiac Deaths
Sudden cardiac death in young athletes has been a problem since the year 490 B.C., when a young Greek soldier ran from Marathon to Athens and fell suddenly to his death (Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The sudden death of a young athlete is tragic, but for the first time researchers have identified the molecular basis for the condition that is the… Read More
PA Department of Health Launches New CPR Training Initiative
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A new campaign, "Lend a Hand, Save a Life," will teach the general public about sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and train 250,000 people in Pennsylvania in hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The American Heart Association (AHA) has been recommending hands-only CPR for adults since 2008. Hands-only CPR has… Read More
Take-Home CPR Instruction Kit Gives Parents Good CPR Skills, Saves Kids' Lives, Packard Children's Study Finds
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Many children with chronic disease or serious health conditions are at risk of cardiac arrest. Teaching their parents to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation can save kids' lives and prevent brain damage caused by delayed resuscitation. But ensuring that these parents receive timely, effective CPR training before they leave… Read More
AEDs in Metra Trains Could Save Lives
CHICAGO--All Metra trains will be equipped with automatic external defibrillators by the end of January, officials announced on Thursday. The easy-to-use, automated device helped a Naperville woman save two lives at the fitness center were she works. The latest involved a man who collapsed face first on a treadmill after going into cardiac arrest… Read More
Mental Health Scars Common After Cardiac Arrest
A quarter of cardiac arrest survivors suffer long-term psychological problems such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, a new review of research estimates. This additional stress on recovering patients is under-diagnosed, researchers say, and doctors have few standard methods for identifying who is at risk. "Anxiety,… Read More
Defibrillator Case to Go to Top Court in California
With more than 700 Americans dying of cardiac arrest each day, a divided federal appeals court wants the California Supreme Court to decide whether state law requires businesses to keep a defibrillator on hand, a device that might have saved the life of a 49-year-old woman who collapsed at a Target store. A panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit… Read More
Hands-Only CPR Best for Victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest, According to Japanese Study
KYOTO, Japan - Chest compression-only CPR performed by bystanders — without rescue breathing — keeps more people alive with good brain function after having a sudden cardiac arrest, according to a Japanese study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Sudden cardiac arrest is the abrupt loss of heart function, usually… Read More
Switching to Chest-Compressions Only Method Doubled Survival in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
TUCSON, AZ - Adoption of chest-compressions-only resuscitation over traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for bystander intervention in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest dramatically improved survival rates in Arizona and other regions of the US, a new report shows [1]. The report, by Drs Gordon Ewy and Arthur Sanders (University of Arizona… Read More