The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and developments in sudden cardiac arrest prevention and treatment.
SCA Survival: A Wicked Problem
Rates of survival from sudden cardiac arrest have languished for decades, despite 40 years of exhaustive efforts to improve the situation, according to Larry Starr, PhD, and Allan Braslow, PhD, in an article published today at JEMS Online. Starr and Braslow are spearheading a Special Task Force on Reshaping the System of Survival through the… Read More
Yorkshire Air Ambulance Saves One of Their Own
Christopher Solomons Wakefield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom – 48 at time of event (2010) As an emergency medical dispatcher for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Christopher Solomons had answered countless calls for help from people who'd witnessed someone collapse in sudden cardiac arrest. Chris never expected he would become the one who… Read More
Saved by a Vest
COLUMBUS, Ga. --A Columbus man got the jolt of his life, literally, when the defibrillator he was wearing kicked in and saved his life.He’s the first person on record to be rescued by this device in Columbus, according to Zoll Medical Corporation, the company that makes the device. It’s revolutionary, yet not many doctors are prescribing it.Sharon… Read More
Rural AED Funding Cut from FY 2012 Budget
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation Urges Citizens to Contact Their Legislators Funding for the Rural Access to Emergency Devices (RAED) Grant Program has been excluded from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) FY 2012 budget, according to HRSA’s newly released “Congressional… Read More
Second Time, He's the One Saved
Joe Farrell, San Francisco, CA – 56 at time of event (2008) Joe knows CPR, as does his wife Edie. Most of his colleagues do as well. He is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, which requires CPR/AED professional training every two years to maintain licensure in the state of California. In August 2007, he saved a gentleman on the golf course in the… Read More
Take a Step for Survival
Register for the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. Virtual walkers welcome. PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Now is the time to register to join the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation Team at the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community on Saturday May 21 in downtown Pittsburgh. By walking with our team--or walking alongside our team virtually--you will not… Read More
SCA Foundation Speaks Out on FDA Actions in The New York Times
"If regulatory hurdles increase, public access to AEDs will decrease," said Mary Newman, president of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, in a letter that was published in The New York Times on February 3. "That would be devastating news for the 295,000 people who suffer sudden death outside hospitals each year— and a giant step backward in the… Read More
Study: A Minority of Individuals Knows About AEDs and Would be Willing to Use One
Researchers Call for Widespread Information CampaignsAMSTERDAM, The Netherlands--Less than half (47%) of the people in a public place who have access to an automated external defibrillator (AED) would be willing to use it, according to Dutch researchers who surveyed 1,018 people from 38 nations. More than half (53%) were unable to recognize the… Read More
Study: AED Placement in Public Settings More Beneficial than in Homes
The frequency of shockable heart rhythms (ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia) as the initial recorded rhythm is lower among patients with witnessed cardiac arrests in the home than among those with witnessed arrests in a public setting, according to a study by the Research Outcomes Consortium recently published in the… Read More