Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest - July 12, 2024

Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest is an assortment of current events and news related to emergency cardiac care and resuscitation. Produced by Code One Training Solutions, Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest is published every Friday throughout the year.

The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.

Sir William Lawrence Bragg

Becoming a HEARTSafe Community: A Guide to Reducing Death & Disability from Sudden Cardiac Arrest

This guide is an overview of a community-based approach to improving cardiac arrest outcomes. The evidence-based recommendations and best practices described present interrelated actions that, when combined, can enable short- and long-term improvements for people who experience sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Here you’ll find HEARTSafe Community strategies and the 13 tactical elements to execute these strategies as well as resources from organizational and industry partners.

Check it out here: https://www.citizencprsummit.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Citizen-CPR-Foundation-HSC-Guide-FINAL.pdf

St John WA installs defibrillators supported by family of Andrew Rutherford

A WA woman whose husband died from cardiac arrest says she will keep up efforts to ensure more people have access to a defibrillator.
Renae Rutherford and her sons returned to Denmark in WA’s Great Southern where their husband and father, Andrew Rutherford, died last year.
She said she had peace of mind knowing that everything that could have been done to save him was done.
That included the use of a defibrillator.

Full story: https://www.msn.com/en-au/health/other/st-john-wa-installs-defibrillators-supported-by-family-of-andrew-rutherford/ar-BB1pzqqD

Junior high school student performs CPR on a boy suffering sudden cardiac arrest

Recently, at a basketball court in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, a boy suddenly fell unconscious. A junior high school student nearby quickly judged it was sudden cardiac arrest and immediately performed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). He also instructed a passerby to perform artificial respiration on the patient. The ambulance arrived 11 minutes later, transporting the patient to the hospital in time. Now, the patient is receiving further treatment.

Source with video: https://english.cctv.com/2024/07/09/VIDE6o48ZTQbvKQ6OTYDoqbO240709.shtml

Two teens save high school wrestler’s life by quickly performing CPR

A pair of young wrestlers are being hailed as heroes after saving their teammate’s life during a training session.
Giovanni Scafidi, 19, and Trevor Hodgins, 14, rushed to then-18-year-old JJ Machnik’s aid back in May, when he went into cardiac arrest.
The trio had been preparing for an upcoming tournament at New Jersey’s Howell High School, in a practice held by the Howell Predator Wrestling Club.
Machnik had been training with the club after concluding his season with the real a few months before, when he suddenly went into cardiac arrest.
Aware the team captain had been diagnosed with a genetic heart condition a few years before, Hodgins and Scafidi frantically gave him CPR.

Full story: https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/two-teens-save-high-school-wrestler-s-life-by-quickly-performing-cpr/ar-BB1pCHBy

FROM THE VAULT: Ken Jeong AHA Hands-Only CPR video

Ken Jeong suits up in this Stayin’ Alive video to promote Hands-Only CPR from 2011.

‘You can save a life’: Louisiana firefighters teach children life saving skills

Before 2019, the St. George Fire Department frequently sent firefighters to out-of-state conferences for specialized training and updated basic training. When they returned, the firefighters began to think about smaller stations that couldn’t afford to send officers to faraway training.
“A couple of our guys came back from one of the major conferences in the country, and they said, ‘We can do this here.’ So that’s pretty much what started it,” said Meg Kling, St. George Fire Department public education officer and director of social media and branding for the foundation.
Five years later, the foundation includes members from different departments across the Baton Rouge area and has partnerships throughout the state. Multiple classes are offered by the foundation, including state-mandated training opportunities for promotions.
Along with offering resources to first responders, the foundation also focuses on the “community risk reduction factor,” Kling said.

Source: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/kids-learn-cpr-skills-at-louisiana-firefighters-foundation/article_2b90cb04-33dc-11ef-be9a-af822532fa65.html

Local footy fan reunites with heroes who saved his life

A Wantirna father is lucky to be alive after suffering a cardiac arrest while attending his son’s football training at Donvale Football Club.
Fifty-three-year-old Paul Diamandis was kicking a football around when he went into cardiac arrest last month.
Paul says thank you to Paramedic Mel Jurgens.
Michael Wolff (20) and Jamie Fabris (20) were nearby coaching the under 15s football team when they saw Paul collapse and immediately jumped into action.
“Paul was face-down and when we turned him over, we saw that his face was blue and he wasn’t breathing,” Michael said.
Michael called Triple Zero (000) immediately, before passing the phone to a parent and beginning cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
He soon swapped with Jamie to continue compressions and raced to the club room to grab an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Story: https://www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/local-footy-fan-reunites-with-heroes-who-saved-his-life/

ENCORE: Break the Barrier PSA| TVC | St John WA

Would you know what to do in an emergency situation? If you don’t know first aid, you can’t help.

Brennan Bill To Prevent Cardiac Arrest Death In Students Passes House

The bill updates policies on the availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and staff training on their use.
DOYLESTOWN, PA — Legislation that would help save the lives of students who experience cardiac arrest at school and on the playing field passed the House on July 3 by a bipartisan vote of 157-45, according to the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Tim Brennan of Doylestown Borough.
House Bill 1685 would amend the Public School Code to update policies on the availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), as well as staff training on their use.

More: https://patch.com/pennsylvania/doylestown/brennan-bill-prevent-cardiac-arrest-death-students-passes-house

Illinois legislation to require schools to have cardiac response plan, mandate AEDs

SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – The American Heart Association estimates about 23,000 kids under 18 annually in the U.S. experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital. Though not all of those incidents happen in the classroom, Illinois state lawmakers are taking steps to ensure people are ready if it does happen at school.
Ill. Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, signed a bill Monday into law requiring schools create and implement a cardiac response plan by Jan. 1, 2025.
“Which includes but is not limited to procedures to follow in the event of a cardiac emergency, a listing of every AED and location within the school and information on hands-only CPR and use of AEDs,” said state Rep. Laura Faver Dias, D-Grayslake, the legislation’s House sponsor.
The new law also requires staff to learn hands-on cardiac response training including how to do CPR and use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

More: https://www.wgem.com/2024/07/05/illinois-legislation-require-schools-have-cardiac-response-plan-mandate-aeds/

Dover schools prepare for cardiac arrests

Recently, Maj. George S. Welch Elementary School and Air Base Middle School became the first schools in Delaware to receive the “Heart Safe School” designation through the Project ADAM initiative. Project ADAM is a national program that helps provide schools the resources to respond to sudden cardiac arrest.
To earn the “Heart Safe School” designation, the schools worked closely with Nemours Children’s Health, the state’s Project ADAM affiliate, to complete a comprehensive training process. Experts from Nemours Children’s supported the schools with the development of a cardiac emergency response plan, CPR training and instruction on how to use automated external defibrillators. In addition, Nemours Children’s experts provided best practices on recognizing cardiac arrest, guidance on defibrillator placement and signage, while also observing cardiac arrest drills to hone and improve staff readiness and response.

Read on: https://baytobaynews.com/stories/connolly-dover-schools-prepare-for-cardiac-arrests,139466

AED available at Willow Creek Park Shelter

Kimball Lions have been talking and planning about having an AED unit with a smart cabinet available to the public in -Kimball for more than a year.
Brenda Lodermeier and Joel Vogel from Advocates for Health Lifesaving Solutions have been walking us through the process. Advocates for Health was started by Joel Vogel of St. Joseph and a couple of friends after Vogel survived a heart attack. As he considered his survival, Vogel began researching cardiac issues and response. Most emergency response times average 8-10 -minutes, a period in which many people with cardiac problems die.
These smart cabinets are available in many cities now, and can be an important role in cardiac survival. Most AEDs are locked inside facilities here in town; these places have no 24-hour/7-day access.

Full story: https://www.tricountynews.com/articles/aed-available-at-willow-creek-park-shelter/

REMINDER: Register for the AHA ECC National Training Network Conference

The American Heart Association will present the 2024 Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) National Training Network Conference, which will be held September 25-26, 2024, at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.
The conference will feature a line-up of more than 20 peer-to-peer sessions and plenary presentations, as well as several ACLS, PALS, and BLS live demonstrations.
On September 24, they will have a pre-conference course and offer ACLS for Experienced Providers (ACLS EP).
More information and registration: https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/ecc-conferences-and-events
SPOTLIGHTING: heartsight
Heartsight is an initiative created by people impacted by cardiac arrest. It orients and empowers anyone who has been affected by this life-altering event. They connect people to trusted resources based on clinical research and the lived experiences of people.

More: https://ourheartsight.com/

Did you catch something in the news related to resuscitation recently that you would like to see in this digest? Want to spotlight an event or activity aimed at improving cardiac arrest outcomes?

Feel free to email david@code1web.com