Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest - May 03, 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.

Don’t count the days, make the days count.

Muhammad Ali

May is American Stroke Month

Stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. It is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States and up to 80% of them may be prevented.
Get Involved through learning, volunteering, giving, or advocating.

Resources from the American Stroke Association: https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke

Did you know that ATMs and coffee shops may be among the best spots to place lifesaving defibrillators?

Focusing on Toronto, a Canadian study from 2017 found that many of the city’s cardiac arrest emergencies happened near coffee shop chains and ATMs connected to large banks.
In fact, those businesses accounted for eight of the top 10 hot spots.

Study link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5363283/

Stairs, elevator or escalator? Your decision could boost longevity

At a time when less than half of adults in the U.S. get the recommended amount of exercise, there is new evidence that climbing stairs can reduce the risk of heart disease and help people live longer.
A new meta-analysis presented at a European Society of Cardiology conference finds that people in the habit of climbing stairs had about a 39% lower likelihood of death from heart disease, compared to those who didn’t climb stairs. They also had a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Learn more: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/29/1247532191/longevity-stairs-climbing-exercise-heart-disease

Time to detection and treatment of stroke is essential

Watch this powerful video from the American Stroke Association and share it.

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/Uvt_ZXADH5k?si=1d1ldKueFj0PGdVT

Whitmer signs bills requiring Michigan high schools coaches to have CPR, AED training

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed two bills requiring high school coaches to maintain valid certification for CPR and automated external defibrillators in case of cardiac arrest.
The legislation requires schools to have a cardiac emergency response plan if a student-athlete collapses on the field because of a cardiac issue.
House Bill 5527, sponsored by state Rep. John Fitzgerald, requires schools to activate a cardiac emergency response plan for the governing body of a school.
HB 5528, sponsored by state Rep. Tyrone Carter, amends the Revised School Code to require any individual who serves as an athletic coach at a public or private high school to maintain a valid certification in CPR and use of an AED.
This certification must be issued by the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, or a comparable organization or institution approved by the Department of Education.

Source: https://www.iosconews.com/news/state/article_b941bae8-cb47-56c1-8ca1-86b78a8ccbe0.html

In 2024: How Retirees Here Are Saving Lives Nationwide

Lifesaving practices pioneered in the world’s largest retirement community are now unfolding across America, five years after The Villages Daily Sun published an in-depth report calling for the reforms.
All five solutions to reduce cardiac deaths — America’s top killer — brought forward in the newspaper’s 2019 investigation are now in place or in progress in communities across the country including school basd CPR programs, citizen CPR, embracing new technology, AED registries,and cardiac arrest data collection and analysis.

Full story: https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/cprsaves/in-2024-how-retirees-here-are-saving-lives-nationwide/article_462c15ba-063a-11ef-b0dd-27918cbef360.html

ENCORE! Cardiac arrest recoveries are great stories, but they’re rare. We can fix that | Expert Opinion

By Raina Merchant, a professor of Emergency Medicine at Penn Medicine.
As an emergency medicine doctor, low rates of CPR put us at a significant disadvantage when we try to save someone’s life. I’ve been doing this job for more than 18 years, and the number of patients who survive cardiac arrest has remained stubbornly low for decades, even longer than my time as a physician.
However, I think we can actually make a change in those numbers, and a leading scientific group within the American Heart Association thinks it can be done by 2030. Simply, we need more people ready and willing to save a life, like those who stepped in quickly for Smith and Hamlin.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/health/cpr-saves-lives-and-more-people-need-to-learn-it-20240426.html

Sheriff secures AEDs for department

Marshall County Sheriff Phil Sims has made an eight-year investment to have a tool for his deputies to help save the lives of Marshall County citizens, if the need arises.
Tuesday afternoon Sims held a brief meeting with Cardiac Solutions, the company that will be providing the department with much needed AEDs and invited Police Chiefs from across the county to attend.
The purchase of the Automated External Defibrillators was approved by the Marshall County Commission at an earlier meeting.
The units will be put in marked patrol vehicles and SRO vehicles, as well as more added to the Sheriff’s Department.

Source: https://www.sandmountainreporter.com/news/article_f0f3f7a2-0643-11ef-bd29-17f017ecc956.html

FROM THE ARCHIVES: RAPID CITY POLICE USING CPR AND AN AED TO TREAT A CARDIAC ARREST VICTIM

Jeff Seamans driving through Rapid City with his wife and stepdaughter on their way to Montana. Seamans was a passenger in the car when he went into cardiac arrest; his wife called 911 for help. Officer Kathleen Callery was the first officer on scene, and was quickly joined by Officer Chris Hunt and Officer Michael Frybarger. The trio administered CPR and an AED shock while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. As the officers worked to save Seamans’ life, nurse Laurie Mills drove past the scene. She jumped in to assist the officers, helping to administer chest compressions as medics arrived. EMS took over CPR, and within minutes, Seamans was breathing on his own. Seamans was transported to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he recovered and was released several days later.

Watch: https://youtu.be/AHEr4RIQS1w?si=xNgEpI8vqGRuBgFm

Quick action on the golf course resulted in rapid recovery from stroke

George Richards had just hit his tee shot on the sixth hole. He was playing a nine-hole round with the same golfing buddies he met up with every Thursday afternoon near his home in Leland, North Carolina.
The drive was pretty decent, landing in the fairway about 120 yards from the hole. Richards grabbed a club from his bag with his right hand and walked toward the ball to take his second shot.
But when Richards tried putting his left hand on the grip, he couldn’t get it to move. The arm just hung there.
Richards flashed back to a program he’d seen about teaching people with disabilities to swing a club using just one arm. He gave it a try.
Richards swung feebly at the ball. It rolled forward a couple inches.
Then one of his pals, Mike Davisson, saw that Richards’ arm was dangling and the left side of his face was drooping.
“Call 911,” Davisson shouted. “George is having a stroke.”

Full story: https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/04/30/quick-action-on-the-golf-course-resulted-in-rapid-recovery-from-stroke

Oake Manor Golf Club adds additional defibrillator after cardiac arrest

A golf club near Taunton has installed a new defibrillator after a life-threatening incident took place earlier this year.
Oake Manor Golf Club announced the new addition after a golfer suffered a cardiac arrest on the course in January.
It exposed the need for increased accessibility to essential life saving equipment.
The golfer’s life was saved due to the quick thinking and response of fellow players and the club’s first aiders, assisted by an on-site defibrillator.
The incident has since led to an in-depth study of heart attack symptoms and treatments by the golf club leading to the installation of a second device.

Read about it: https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/24285182.oake-manor-golf-club-new-defibrillator-cardiac-arrest/

Public Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Residential Neighborhoods

Although one-half of all public out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) occur outside private homes in residential neighborhoods, their characteristics and outcomes remain unexplored.
This study from Vienna and Copenhagen assessed interventions before ambulance arrival and survival for public OHCA patients in residential neighborhoods.
In this study, two-thirds of public OHCAs occurred in residential neighborhoods with fewer resuscitative efforts before ambulance arrival and lower survival than in nonresidential areas. Targeted efforts to improve early CPR and defibrillation for public OHCA patients in residential neighborhoods are needed.

Full access: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109723066238

Spotlighting: The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association

The HCMA is the preeminent organization improving the lives of those with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, HCM, preventing untimely deaths and advancing global understanding. Founded in 1996 we are committed to providing support, education, advocacy and advancing research, understanding and care to those with HCM.

Learn more here: https://4hcm.org/

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