Our weekly update on news in the world of heart safety and noninvasive cardiology
Changes to AED, CPR protocols can increase SCA survival
A study published May 4 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association found that refinements to the common protocols for treating sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) victims with CPR and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can improve survival rates. The study looked at the results of changes to the resuscitation practices in the Kansas City Emergency Medical Services.
The new model tested by the Kansas City EMS views the first five minutes after the cardiac arrest (which they term “the electrical phase”) as the best time for immediate defibrillation. From five to 10 minutes after SCA, the study suggests that chest compressions can improve circulation and make a defibrillation attempt more likely to succeed.
“In the five- to 10-minute period after an SCA, a lot of evidence shows that if you do chest compressions to keep blood going to the heart muscle, defibrillation is far more likely to work,” said Alex G. Garza, M.D, the lead author of the study.
Horncastle UK recreation parks get AEDs, training
Through a partnership of the East Lindsey District Council and East Midlands Ambulance service, staff at local leisure centers are being trained to rescue victims of sudden cardiac arrest. Staff at Jubilee Park received an automated external defibrillator (AED) and training. They are responsible for a venue that includes a caravan park and outdoor swimming pool.
The council already has Cardiac Science Powerheart G3 defibrillators placed at four other leisure centers in the district.
Dancer speaks out for Glasgow AED campaign
A young Scottish woman whose life was saved using an automated external defibrillator (AED) seven years ago talked publicly for the first time about her rescue to support the British Heart Foundation‘s campaign to put an additional 100 defibrillators in public places in Glasgow.
Erin Sayers, now 21, was just 13 when her heart stopped and she collapsed on the floor of the dance studio where she and friends were rehearsing. Fortunately, the father of a friend suspect her collapse was more than just fainting. He called an ambulance and started CPR. When emergency services arrived with a defibrillator, they were able to administer a shock that restarted Erin’s heart beat.
Erin was in a coma for more than five weeks, and her recovery has taken years. She was eventually diagnosed with a heart conditional called ventricular incompatibility, and received an implantable defibrillator last year.
“Young Hearts for Life” program screens teens using simple EKG
Partnering with Edward Hospital and the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation, the Midwest Heart Foundation conducted heart health screenings for 8,500 high school students in the Indian Prairie School District 204. The screenings aim to detect underlying heart conditions such as those that in recent years led to the deaths of two young athletes in the school district, according to heart foundation board member Dr. Joseph Marek.
“A simple, four-minute painless electrocardiogram (EKG) can detect 50 to 60 percent of these young adults that are at risk of sudden death and allow them to obtain life-saving medical treatment,” he told the press.
Since 2006, the Midwest Heart Foundation has conducted heart health screenings for 29,000 Chicago-area high school students. According to Marek, more than 370 referred to their physicians for further evaluation. Testing led to diagnoses of heart conditions including Long QT syndrome and Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome.
Defibrillators put on buses in the Poconos
The Pocono (New York) Record reports that the Monroe County Transportation Authority has placed 38 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on most of its vehicles and is training drivers to use them to rescue victims of sudden cardiac arrest. Vehicles equipped with AEDs include most of the regular city buses and the smaller buses used to shuttle disabled or otherwise qualified residents from home to medical appointments or shopping.
Connecticut town aims for “HeartSafe Community” designation
The Hartford Courant reports that the town of South Windsor, Connecticut, has placed automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in all the town schools and town buildings as part of an effort to be named a “HeartSafe Community” through the state’s Department of Public Health. The program requires that the town train a certain number of people in CPR and AED use. The Republican Town Committee is underwriting a portion of the CPR training for up to 50 participants later this month.
AEDs: “Every church should have one”
Two churches in Andover, Massachusetts, are collaborating on a concert to help the family of a pastor recovering from a heart attack — and to raise funds to buy defibrillators for area churches.
The Andover Townsman reports that the Andover Baptist and Free Christian churches have organized a free concert in honor of Andover Baptist Pastor Lyndon Myers, who is recovering from a heart attack. Myers was revived by local ambulance personnel using an automated external defibrillator (AED).
Jack Daniel, senior pastor at Free Christian, told the paper that the event will call attention to “the wider story of the defibrillators.”
“Every church should have one,” Daniel said. “These instruments save lives, and it saved his life.”
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Last 5 posts
- Cardiac Science AEDs in Spain [VIDEO] - April 4th, 2011
- Cardiac Science wins first major public access defibrillation program in Europe - March 30th, 2011
- Georgia Park saves 5 lives with AEDs - March 24th, 2011
- Sad stories, avoidable deaths? - March 23rd, 2011
- Texas school's AED saves 6-year-old's life - March 22nd, 2011
May 19th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
These types of updates seem to be the reason for the annual cpr certification or renewal.