Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest - June 7, 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.

Always pass on what you have learned.

Yoda

Learn It Young. Remember It Forever

Empower a child, and impact a community, by watching and sharing this video.

Watch and share: https://youtu.be/rpMFkcSn5IM?si=KkCfDwDb3RzODzfH

ENCORE: Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) 2023 Annual Report Released

CARES data are used to help communities benchmark and improve their performance for OHCA care. CARES allows participating communities to view their own statistics online confidentially and compare their performance to anonymous aggregated data at the local, regional, or national level. CARES automatically calculates local 911 response intervals, delivery rates for critical interventions (e.g., bystander CPR and public access defibrillation [PAD]), and community rates of survival and functional status at discharge, on the basis of each patient’s CPC Scale. An annual report is provided to all participating communities that summarizes local results in comparison to regional and national benchmarks.

Tracking performance longitudinally allows communities to better understand which elements of their care are working well and which elements need improvement. Reporting at the state and local levels can enable state and local public health and EMS agencies to coordinate their efforts to target improving emergency response for OHCA events which can lead to improvement in OHCA survival rates.

Access the full report here: https://mycares.net/sitepages/uploads/2024/2023_flipbook/index.html?page=1

CPR willingness grows in the US, but the need to act remains

More Americans than ever now say they are willing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event of an emergency, according to newly released survey data from the American Heart Association. Thanks in part to the recent efforts of the Association and others, the percentage of surveyed adults in the U.S. who say they now feel they have the confidence to perform CPR has increased from 30% to 35%. But scientific data still indicates that fewer than half of all people experiencing cardiac arrest outside of a hospital receive CPR before emergency services arrive.

“There are certain medical emergencies where a moment cannot be wasted and sudden cardiac arrest is one of them,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. “At the American Heart Association, we’ve moved the needle towards willingness to perform CPR over the past two years—and that is powerful. But there is so much more to do; we have a goal of doubling survival from cardiac arrest by building a nation of lifesavers who are confident and able to act when the time comes.”

Read on: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-cpr-willingness.html

From the archives: First Responder Defibrillation – When the Rescuer Becomes the Rescued-The Rescue of Police Chief Buck

Join David Hiltz and Sarah Lamb from Richmond Rescue for a multiple dash-cam video compilation capturing every second when the chief of Richmond Police went into cardiac arrest in the middle of a high-speed pursuit, complete from the moment of cardiac arrest through the initiation of CPR, deployment of his own AED by fellow officers and the use of high-performance CPR by a small-town EMS agency. This video provides a powerful and raw view into an unfolding cardiac arrest, highlighting the team efforts necessary for a positive outcome.

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/ikw1bhljORs?si=Biqz6tI8JKdWVPMh

Defibrillators to be installed in all Quebec public schools

The Quebec government says it will spend more than $3 million to equip all public schools with an automated external defibrillator (AED) if they don’t already have one.
According to the government, this means that 1,558 defibrillators will be purchased and installed to ensure that every elementary school, high school and training centre is equipped.

According to the most recent data, 93 percent of high schools already have at least one defibrillator, but this drops to 51 per cent for elementary schools and 70 per cent for vocational training centres and adult education centres.

The plan is to increase the rate to 100 per cent.

Source: https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/defibrillators-to-be-installed-in-all-quebec-public-schools-1.6912615

Stryker launches LifePak 35 monitor/defibrillator

Stryker (NYSE: SYK)+ announced today that it launched its LifePak 35 monitor/defibrillator following the receipt of a supplemental FDA approval.

Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker first previewed the LifePak 35 system at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in April. The new LifePak 35 system received

U.S.-only FDA clearance via a premarket approval (PMA) supplement on April 12. It builds on the previous version, the now-15-year-old LifePak 15.

Source: https://www.massdevice.com/stryker-launches-lifepak-35-monitor-defibrillator/

Lexington high school earns heart safe certification

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Children’s Hospital is helping connect Fayette County high schools with heart health resources.

Thanks to Project ADAM, each of Fayette County’s public high schools are now certified heart-safe schools.

Imitating a real emergency through a series of procedures, including CPR, Frederick Douglass High School’s (FDHS) automated external defibrillator was put to use through Project ADAM. The initiative works to save lives across the U.S., teaching and encouraging schools to plan and utilize AEDs.

Staff members like resource officer Gary Gruman helped FDHS earn its heart safe certification.

“We train every year in scenarios like this,” Gruman said. “We get certified every two years, so this was kind of routine. We’re used to it.”

Learn more: https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2024/06/03/project-adam-certifies-frederick-douglass-high-school

Waukesha County launches app to help save lives

PulsePoint activates when the 911 dispatch center receives a cardiac arrest call.

Waukesha County is adding a new tool to its emergency response.

The county joined the PulsePoint app.

The free app activates when the 911 dispatch center receives a cardiac arrest call.

It locates and alerts the nearest person trained in CPR.

A second app called PulsePoint AED is meant for businesses to register their automated external defibrillator.

It allows dispatchers to connect people to the closest life-saving resource.

“We recognize PulsePoint as an opportunity to save lives. It shortens the chain of survival where we can get early hands on the chest. We can get early defibrillation,” Lake Country Fire and Rescue Chief Matthew Fennig said.

Read on: https://www.wisn.com/article/waukesha-county-launches-pulsepoint-app-save-lives/60986054

A teen survived cardiac arrest. Then his mom. Then his sister.

Joe Krejci of Dallas was almost to the finish line of a 100-yard dash during his middle-school gym class when he collapsed onto the track.

His gym teacher thought Joe had tripped. Then he saw the 13-year-old on his back with his eyes open. The teacher called out to the two fastest runners in class: “Go get the nurse and AED!” He called 911 as the students headed toward the school building.

Minutes later, the boys raced back with the school nurse; she brought an automated external defibrillator, a device that analyzes heart rhythm and delivers an electric shock to stabilize a person’s heart rate.

Learn more about Joe, his mom and his sister here: https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/06/04/a-teen-survived-cardiac-arrest-then-his-mom-then-his-sister

Wicklow woman whose son died pays for public defib outside home

A Wicklow woman whose son died after not being able to access a defibrillator during a medical emergency has paid for a new public access defibrillator at the side wall of her home to “strengthen the chain of survival”.

On a torrid night in 2021, Aughrim resident Hermione Winters lost her 29-year-old son Tadhg Russell, who was informed by an operator from the National Ambulance Service during the emergency that he needed to access a defibrillator, but none were available nearby.

Eager to ensure the same fate does not befall anyone else in her community, Ms Winters contacted Aughrim Community First Responders group coordinator Philip O’Dwyer to enquire about the purchasing of a defibrillator, saying she wanted to have one installed at her home and make it available to the public.

More: https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/arklow-news/wicklow-woman-whose-son-died-pays-for-public-defib-outside-home/a917322924.html

AEDs popping up in Livingston Parish parks

LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (WAFB) – After losing her son to cardiac arrest, one Livingston Parish mom is working to make life-saving devices more accessible throughout the parish.

That mother is Michelle Temple, and the Live Oak Sports Complex holds a lot of good memories for her.

“This park means a lot to us. It’s right down the road from our home, both of our boys played in this park, and we actually coached here,” said Temple.

She and her husband used to coach their son, Grayson, who was more than just a great left-handed pitcher.

Video story: https://www.wafb.com/2024/06/04/aeds-popping-up-livingston-parish-parks/

Spotlighting: PulsePoint Foundation

PulsePoint is a 501(c)(3) public non-profit foundation building applications that help public safety agencies inform and engage their citizens.

Only when Fire Chief Richard Price saw paramedics arrive did he realize how close he’d been to a cardiac arrest victim. He understood then how close you could be to someone in need while unaware of the emergency. Trained in CPR, with an AED in his car, he knew he likely could have made a difference in the outcome if he was made aware minutes earlier. He soon wondered if a modern, location-aware mobile phone linked to the local 9-1-1 dispatch center could alert CPR-trained citizens that were in the immediate vicinity and willing to help. These “citizen responders” might be just feet away, on the floor above or in the building next door, like Price. Close enough to make a difference, but far enough away to be unaware of the need for help. Within days of this event, Price’s vision for the PulsePoint app was a point on the horizon.

More: https://www.pulsepoint.org/foundation

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