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.
Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation… even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.
Leonardo da Vinci
Initiative Launched to Teach 1 Million San Diegans Hands-Only CPR
The County of San Diego is partnering with UC San Diego to launch Revive & Survive San Diego, a new initiative to help save lives.
Revive & Survive San Diego was created to train 1 million San Diegans on how to perform hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for people in cardiac arrest.
In 2021, 8 percent of people who experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in San Diego County were successfully revived and survived.
“Cardiac arrest continues to be a leading cause of death across the country,” said Kristi Koenig, M.D., County of San Diego Emergency Medical Services medical director and co-lead of the Revive & Survive San Diego initiative. “No amount of preparedness in a hospital can save a life if the person does not make it into the building. Receiving CPR at the scene will save lives.”
Full story: https://www.countynewscenter.com/initiative-launched-to-teach-1-million-san-diegans-hands-only-cpr/
Community CPR Toolkit available from the Resuscitation Academy and the Citizen CPR Foundation
This toolkit is free to all who are interested in implementing a Community CPR Campaign. The materials have been developed to provide step-by-step instructions for implementing programs and serve as a resource to assist you in that process.
Access this FREE toolkit here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f74bfd9d36c8e051d674096/t/6182d91703f65b7783ee24ea/1635965211656/RA_CommunityCPR921_toolkit_4.pdf
High-Impact Video: “The Most Important Thing”
The campaign video from St. John highlights the positive impact that first aid skills can have in an emergency and how a quick response and knowing what to do can ultimately save someone’s life.
Take a look at this 60 second version: https://youtu.be/7FcPmSOYYuk?si=Hq8ejnVCduORUeLP
Volunteer Responder Interventions in Out‐of‐Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas
Journal of the American Heart Association.
This study investigated volunteer responder intervention according to the degree of urbanization in Denmark.
Volunteer responder arrival before EMS occurred significantly more often in rural and suburban areas compared with urban areas.
Community volunteer responder programs are associated with a greater chance of bystander CPR, bystander defibrillation, and 30‐day survival.
Research article link: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.123.032629
HEARTSafe: Empowering Communities for Cardiac Arrest Survival
The Citizen CPR Foundation (CCPRF), founded in 1987, has endeavored to ‘strengthen the chain of survival,” a metaphor used to define the series of actions improving the chance of survival for thousands of victims of sudden cardiac arrest.
Its mission starts with education for the lay rescuer and continues through interventions provided by EMS dispatch, EMTs and paramedics, emergency department personnel, and specialists in intensive care units.
The mission of CCPRF is to save lives from sudden cardiac arrest by stimulating effective community, professional, and citizen action.
HEARTSafe Community is a set of criteria and guidelines designed to improve outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest emergencies through a specific set of training, preparation, and response protocols.
Full article: https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/emsworld/feature-story/heartsafe-empowering-communities-cardiac-arrest-survival
Lee County Public Safety launches “Heart Smart Lee County” campaign
It’s a community-driven effort to improve cardiac arrest response and outcomes. This initiative uses Hands-Only CPR and emergency response procedures to educate the public on the importance of immediate intervention in cardiac arrest incidents.
The campaign includes:
- Hands-Only CPR training: A short video, printable flyers and other educational materials help to raise awareness about cardiac arrest and its warning signs.
- CPR class sign-ups: Lee County encourages residents to enroll in its partners’ CPR and Hands-Only CPR classes to educate residents and visitors on effective intervention during cardiac emergencies.
- Community AED Registry: Local businesses and organizations should register AEDs (automated external defibrillators) with the 911 dispatch system. Once an AED is registered, 911 operators can help a witness locate the AED and provide life-saving care.
- Community Partnership: Lee County works with several community partners such as Lee Health, the American Heart Association, Florida Department of Health, Florida SouthWestern State College and other local organizations and businesses.
Source: https://fortmyersbeachfl.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1301
No Matter Where They Live Women are Less Likely to Get Bystander CPR
When the heart stops beating during sudden cardiac arrest, receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from a bystander doubles the chance of survival.
But research from the Duke University School of Medicine, published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, reveals a consistent reality: women are less likely than men to receive this life-saving intervention if they collapse in public.
The new study showed women were 14% less likely to receive bystander CPR and defibrillation than men. The Duke team analyzed data about more than 309,000 cases of cardiac arrest from 2013-2019, from 47 states and is one of the few studies that factored in the racial composition of the neighborhoods. Researchers found that rates were similar whether the neighborhood was predominantly white, Black, or Hispanic.
“This inequity of bystander CPR for women is staggering,” said Audrey Blewer, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.
Read on: https://medschool.duke.edu/news/no-matter-where-they-live-women-are-less-likely-get-bystander-cpr
Family stresses the importance of CPR after father is saved twice
ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ)– What would you do if you got a second chance at life? What about a third? One Duncansville man got those chances after he was revived from cardiac arrest twice in one year.
On March 11, 2023, Terrina McIntosh was in Pittsburgh with her mother when her husband Thomas McIntosh called her and said he was having chest pains. Terrina told him to stay at the house and had her daughter go check on him.
“Next thing I know I get a phone call telling me ‘Mom you have to come home, dad is laying on the floor’,” Terrina said. “He’s in cardiac arrest.”
Entire story: https://www.wtaj.com/news/local-news/family-stresses-the-importance-of-cpr-after-father-is-saved-twice/
High school CPR trained students saving lives across Canada
OTTAWA, Feb. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — When 15-year-old Madeleine Caza’s father suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, her quick-thinking heroics and use of CPR helped save his life. Madeleine was trained through the ACT High School CPR and AED Program, which has seen over 5 million students trained by their teachers to date.
“In celebration of Heart Month, the Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation recognizes students and teachers who have learned lifesaving knowledge and skills through the ACT High School CPR and AED Program,” says Sandra Clarke, Executive Director, ACT Foundation.
Recent data from the Heart and Stroke Cardiac Arrest Report, utilizing CanROC statistics, reveals a remarkable increase over the past several decades in bystander CPR rates ranging from 42% to 72%. Contrastingly, national rates were once as dismally low as 2-3%. The Report also indicates that survival rates have doubled over the past decades.
Read: https://financialpost.com/globe-newswire/high-school-cpr-trained-students-saving-lives-across-canada
‘I was in denial’: Cedar Park doctor shares the lessons he learned after his heart stopped
Dr. Christopher Stewart remembers that day, June 20. He was in his office at the Baylor Scott & White Clinic in Cedar Park and preparing to see a patient.
And then he became the patient, with a worsening ache deep inside his chest.
“I was in denial like all my patients,” he said.
The symptoms did not mirror some classic signs of a heart attack: no radiating arm pain, no shortness of breath. Stewart, now 54, lacked other risk factors: no high blood pressure, never smoked, no high cholesterol, no obesity, no family history.
But then he was getting lightheaded and short of breath, and the chest pain worsened.
Video and print story: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/healthcare/2024/02/27/cedar-park-doctor-christopher-stewart-heart-attack-symptoms-tips-lessons-learned/72540975007/
MO Schools and Health Advocates Promote Cardiac Emergency Response Plans
Missouri Senate Bills 1032 and 1081 would require public schools to develop and implement cardiac emergency response plans and advocates are stressing the need to implement them for school safety.
The legislation would require every Missouri school district to have a response plan, including working with EMS providers, training staff on CPR and defibrillator use, and doing practice drills. Pond Elementary School in the Rockwood School District is a designated “heart-safe school.”
Kristie Newell, nationally certified school nurse in the district, said the desired level of preparedness is vital, since heart-related issues are the number one cause of death in the country, but schools need the support and funding to implement the laws.
Audio and print story: https://www.krcu.org/health-science/2024-02-26/mo-schools-and-health-advocates-promote-cardiac-emergency-response-plans
A fatal missed opportunity
Sixteen-year-old Brock went to volleyball practice, just like any other day. Later that evening, his mother, Kim, gets a call: Brock had suffered a cardiac arrest. And AED could have saved him, but instead it remained unused. After her son’s death, Kim became an advocate for training the next generation of life-savers. See what Kim wants you to know about cardiac arrest.
Watch: https://youtu.be/o65pYqwIf94?si=UKSrIYujIlHYSRnR
Howard County Executive announces expansion of AED program
WBFF— Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced the expansion of Howard County’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED) program.
The expansion will allow for more access to AED units throughout Howard County to help anyone suffering a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
“For every minute that someone is in sudden cardiac arrest, their chance of survival can decrease to between seven and ten percent. Tragically, across our nation, survival from sudden cardiac arrest is only around ten percent,” said Ball. “We are taking another step forward in being a model community for cardiac arrest survival by placing AEDs in more locations throughout the county to ensure bystanders and loved ones have the means to act fast to improve a sudden cardiac arrest patients’ survival. We can save more lives because we know that every second matters.”
Howard County is adding 17 new AED SaveStations throughout its Department of Recreation & Parks’ regional park system. The stations are designed to house any AED, indoors and out, and provide 24/7 access to the life-saving units.
Source: https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/howard-county-executive-announces-expansion-of-aed-program
Introducing Heartsight, a grassroots initiative created by people impacted by cardiac arrest
Heartsight orients and empowers anyone who has been affected by this life-altering event. They connect you to trusted resources based on clinical research and the lived experiences of people like you. They are here to help.
Heartsight content highlights and addresses the three key moments where people affected by cardiac arrest feel most uncertain.
Hindsight: Understanding an event after it has happened.
Insight: The ability to gain an accurate and deep understanding.
Foresight: The ability to predict what will happen or be needed in the future.
Visit here: 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