Our weekly update on news in the world of heart safety and noninvasive cardiology

Teens on rival teams survive sudden cardiac arrest

Michael Ward and Kyle Bednar, sudden cardiac arrest survivors

When they played basketball, Michael Ward and Kyle Bednar were on opposing teams. But they became friends at a hospital earlier that month where both had surgery and received implantable defibrillators. Both Minnesota teens had collapsed of sudden cardiac arrest, and both had been rescued by people using automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at school.

Kyle was at a May 29 graduation party at the school gym when he collapsed. Parent volunteers at the party called 911, began CPR, and retrieved the AED outside the gym. They used it to deliver a shock that re-started Kyle’s heartbeat. Paramedics arrived and transported Kyle to a hospital, where he was put in a medically induced coma.

Michael had been playing basketball at his school when he collapsed on June 2. Again, parents called 911 and began CPR, and a local police officer arrived and used the AED mounted outside the school gym to administer a shock that re-started Michael’s heart.

The families of both teens are now involved in AED awareness projects in their respective communities. Lisa Bednar, Kyle’s mother, told the Brainerd Dispatch:

“If there hadn’t been a defibrillator, all the CPR in the world wouldn’t have saved Kyle, that’s what we were told by the doctors.”

The new Quinton Q-Stress 4.0 is big news in the stress test industry

A business report from Dotmed.com cited Cardiac’s Science’s new Quinton Q-Stress 4.0 cardiac stress testing technology as one of the major developments in the past year.

“The new Quinton Q-Stress connects with virtually everything needed for enhanced workflow and reporting, including hospital information system/electronic medical record systems, e-mail, network storage, and nuclear and echo systems. Every heartbeat can be captured and reviewed and the entire test can be saved and sent to a desktop workstation, network, or EMR for storage and remote viewing,” the article said.

The Quinton Q-Stress 4.0 is the ninth generation of Quinton stress testing technology, a brand known for reliability and durability. The reported noted that older Q-Stress systems are “one of the most requested brands on the refurbished market today.”

The testing treadmill was invented in 1952 by Dr. Robert Bruce (Bruce Protocol) and biomedical technology pioneer Wayne Quinton. In 2005, Quinton Cardiology Systems merged with Cardiac Science, Inc, to form Cardiac Science Corp.

Memorial for player whose death led to heart-safety awareness in world soccer

International soccer star Marc-Vivien Foe died of sudden cardiac arrest in 2002. Photo: AFP/File/Issouf Sanogo.

This year’s Confederations Cup match in world soccer will begin with a ceremony honoring Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe, who collapsed and died during in a 2003 game. It was later discovered that the 28-year-old athlete had an undiagnosed heart condition.

As a result of Foe’s death, the Interational Federation of Association Football (known as FIFA, for the French name Federation Internationale de Football Association) now requires medical screening of players in its international competitions. In addition, FIFA president Sepp Blatter told the press, international matches now have physicians at the game or require staff with defibrillator training.

AEDs in flight: American Airlines’ AEDs have saved more than 90 people

When a Continental pilot died of sudden cardiac arrest on a flight from Brussels to New York last month, it got people talking about the availability of AEDs on airplanes.

Pat Emmett saw the news and said “If only they’d done for him what they’d done for me!”

The Kansas City man had collapsed of sudden cardiac arrest on a air flight three years ago; two fellow passengers started CPR and attendants rushed for the airplane’s automated external defibrillator (AED). A shock from the debrillator restarted Emmett’s heartbeat — in the air, miles from an ambulance or a hospital.

Emmett, interviewed by fox4kc.com, is the author of A Second Chance: Surviving Sudden Cardiac Arrest and started the Heart of American Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association for cardiac arrest survivors.

In March, a 55-year-old Oklahoma man was revived on Frontier Airlines after he collapsed from  cardiac arrest shortly after takeoff. (Read the Associated Press interview with survivor Mike Upchurch here.)

While this was apparently the first save for Frontier Airlines, there have been dozens of AED rescues on American Airlines. American was the first U.S. carrier to install defibrillators on aircraft, equipping its planes with the devices in 1997.

“I could comfortably say we’ve now had nearly 90 lives saved with defibrillators,” American spokesman Tim Smith told the Associated Press.

Dave Marver interviewed by Fox News

Click through to watch the Dave Marver Fox Business News video.

Last 5 posts by Joe Hage

• Dave Marver on Cardiac Science Quality - February 8th, 2010
• Arizona defibrillator rescue: City of Yuma recognizes golf pro who used Powerheart AED - February 4th, 2010
• EHR/EMR use on the rise, Federal health IT leader notes - February 3rd, 2010
• Obama's priorities shift away from healthcare: Cardiac Science for the week of Feb. 1 - February 1st, 2010
• New York AED bill would mandate CPR, defibrillator training for teachers - January 26th, 2010