The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and developments in sudden cardiac arrest prevention and treatment.
ICDs Effective in Reducing Deaths Among Older Heart Failure Patients
Use of implanted cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduced three-year mortality by nearly 30 percent among Medicare patients with heart failure, found a new study. At the end of one year, heart failure patients who received ICDs experienced lower mortality than those who did not (19.8 vs. 27.6 percent). At three years, patients who received ICDs… Read More
Sheriff Deputies Use AED to Save Airport Traveler
Two Broward County, Fla. sheriffs deputies are being hailed as heroes for saving the life of a passenger who had suffered a heart attack minutes after stepping off a plane. BSO said deputies Dave Kofalk and Joe Baxter were handling an arrest warrant Friday afternoon when they were told that a man had collapsed outside the U.S. Customs area at… Read More
OSU Richard Ross Heart Hospital Among First to Implant Next Generation ICD
Ohio State University’s Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital is one of the first facilities in the country to implant a next generation defibrillator in a patient to combat sudden cardiac arrest, a silent killer that claims more than one million lives each year worldwide. Researchers here are studying the safety and effectiveness of the defibrillator… Read More
Gordon Ewy, MD, UA Chief of Cardiology, Passes Torch to Karl Kern, MD
After 28 years as chief of cardiology at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine, Dr. Gordon A. Ewy is stepping down. UA professor of medicine Dr. Karl B. Kern has been appointed acting chief. Ewy, 76, is not retiring, though. He'll remain as director of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center and continue his active practice of… Read More
Study: Survival Benefit from ICD Therapy Lower in Women Versus Men
WASHINGTON — New large meta-analysis from five primary prevention randomized implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) studies shows a smaller impact of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) on overall mortality in women. According to research published in the July edition of the HeartRhythm Journal, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society,… Read More
Bystander Makes a Difference
CHESTERTON, IN–Chesterton, Indiana, Fire Department (CFD) firefighters saved a life on Tuesday at a bowling alley with a couple of shocks from an automated external defibrillator (AED). But they had a helping pair of hands from a citizen at the scene. Lt. Jamie Hicks told the Chesterton Tribune today that the CFD was dispatched to bowling alley—… Read More
Traveler Saved at New Orleans Airport
Thanks to the heroic efforts a quick-acting bystander and the on-site availability of an automated external defibrillator, a tragedy was averted and a life saved recently at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. On a recent June morning, Gaylord Hall and his wife were using the check-in kiosk at the Delta ticket lobby, when Hall… Read More
Quick, Consistent, Uninterrupted Chest Compressions Save Lives
Quick, consistent and uninterrupted chest compressions are key to survival from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), according to a new study by the Research Outcomes Consortium (ROC), a clinical trial network focused on prehospital SCA and severe traumatic injury. "We learned there were too many interruptions in chest compressions during CPR," explains… Read More
SCA Foundation Launches Arizona Affiliate of National Survivor Network™
Phoenix, AZ--The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, in cooperation with the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center and the Arizona Department of Health Services SHARE (Save Hearts in Arizona Registry and Education) Program, launched the Arizona Affiliate of the National Survivor Network™ this week in Phoenix. The Network gives survivors and… Read More