The Gootter Foundation gift, along with training through the Sarver Heart Center, will help cut deaths from sudden cardiac arrest.
TUCSON--The Steven M. Gootter Foundation has announced it is giving life-saving equipment to public and private high schools in southern Arizona. The Gootter Foundation will providing automated external defibrillators, known as AEDs, to area schools in southern Arizona that do not have them.
The goal is preventing avoidable deaths from sudden cardiac arrest.
The foundation also will donate AEDs to the Tucson Boys and Girls Clubs and the Jim Reffkin Tennis Center, formerly Randolph Tennis Center. All schools and institutions will receive training on the AEDs through The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center.
The sudden collapse of Cienega High School student Emilio Martinez during weightlifting class in April 2009 triggered the initiative, said Gootter Foundation spokesperson Claudine Messing. Having a readily accessible AED at his school is credited with helping save Martinez's life.
Even though AEDs are becoming increasingly accessible in public places like airports, convention centers and shopping malls, schools often lack the resources to acquire a defibrillator or the necessary training and oversight of their use and maintenance.
"We realized that our foundation could make a real difference in alleviating this issue," Messing said. "The response and interest from the schools has been overwhelming."
"Sudden cardiac arrest is often associated with young athletes under intense physical stress. However, it is the leading cause of natural death in the United States and can strike anyone at any age," said Lani Clark, director of the SHARE program, which oversees AED programs across the state.
SHARE stands for Save Hearts in Arizona Registry and Education.
"High schools are concerned not only about their student population, but also about the safety of their staff, as well as parents and other members of the public that come together during the various events they hold during the year," Clark said.
"For someone whose heart has stopped pumping blood, a quick response from bystanders is crucial," Clark said. "With each minute that passes and if no one does anything except call 9-1-1, the chances of survival keep spiraling down by about 10 percent. By the time you get close to 10 minutes with no one doing uninterrupted chest compressions or getting an AED, the person's chance of survival is slim to none."
The Steven M. Gootter Foundation Board of Directors and supporters are committed to sparing families the tragedy of losing a loved one to this silent killer that takes 1,000 lives a day, more than cancer and AIDS combined, said Messing.
The foundation's namesake, 42-year-old Tucsonan Steven M. Gootter, suffered a cardiac arrest and died during a morning jog in February 2005.
More than $1 million has since been raised through the annual Gootter Grand Slam tennis tournament and pro-exhibition held in Gootter's honor.
The money has been used to fund research projects and create the Steven M. Gootter Endowed Chair for the Prevention and Treatment of Sudden Cardiac Death at the UA Sarver Heart Center.
The Steven M. Gootter Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to the mission of defeating sudden cardiac death. To achieve this mission, the foundation has partnered with the UA Sarver Heart Center to fund scientific research into the causes and prevention of sudden cardiac death. The foundation works to increase awareness of SCD among those who may be at risk, and fosters education about SCD among health-care professionals and the public.
SOURCE: Daniel Stolte, Sarver Heart Center