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.
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Andre Gide, French author and Nobel Prize winner
Tampa mother spreading awareness about importance of CPR and AED training after son’s life was saved
TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa mother is advocating for more CPR and AED training after her son collapsed suddenly at track practice.
In February, Ansel Laureano, 17, was at track practice at Leto High School, when he collapsed and stopped breathing.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen to me because I’m pretty athletic,” Laureano said. “And I did cross-country and soccer, before track season, so for it to happen to me was like, I did not expect that at all.”
One of the coaches immediately started CPR while calling 911, and the assistant principal grabbed the school’s AED while they waited for first responders to get there.
“Thank God that happened in the school,” Bismeiry Lantigua, Laureano’s mother said. “Because if it happened here that day, I would’ve called 911, and I don’t have an idea what I can know.”
Lantigua said it’s a priority now for her entire family to know the basics of CPR training and what to do if something like this ever happens again.
Advocates rally for AED, heart health funding at Capitol rotunda
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The American Heart Association and other Kentucky organizations are urging legislators to fund the state’s AED fund to support Cardiac Emergency Response Plans in all Kentucky public schools.
As the General Assembly continues to craft the state’s budget for the 2024-2026 biennium, the AHA, Cincinnati Bengals and medical professionals gathered at the Capitol rotunda Monday and urged people to contact their elected officials to fund the state’s AED fund.
Matt Mangine, founder of the Matthew Mangine ‘One Shot’ Foundation, founded the nonprofit after losing his son Matthew to sudden cardiac arrest in 2020 after soccer practice.
“On campus that night there were five AEDs. The closest one was 250 feet away behind a locked door. It was not brought to him,” Mangine said.
Mangine said his son’s initial shock did not come until 12 minutes after collapsing. Since then, he has become an advocate for improving the health and safety of Kentucky students.
“Survival shouldn’t hinge on luck and happenstance; the presence of individuals trained in CPR and equipped with AED knowledge can make the difference of life and death,” Mangine said.
Full story: https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2024/03/12/aed-fund-kentucky
Former Falcons QB Matt Ryan urges Georgia Senate to pass defibrillator bill
Bill seeks to require cardiac-arrest training and equipment in all public schools
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Longtime Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan made an appearance Monday at the Georgia Capitol, urging lawmakers to give final passage to a bill that would require defibrillators in every public school in the state.
“As a father, I want them in the best hands possible every day when they’re at school,” Ryan said.
The NFL MVP joined the Georgia Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association in a news conference in support of House Bill 874. The legislation would require automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in all schools, along with emergency action plans and training to prepare staff members in the event someone goes into cardiac arrest.
“It’s not only for children, but it’s also for the parents and grandparents that are visiting,” said the bill’s lead sponsor, State Rep. Lee Hawkins of Gainesville.
Source with video: https://www.wrdw.com/2024/03/11/former-falcons-qb-matt-ryan-urges-georgia-senate-pass-defibrillator-bill/
Truly, lifesavers all
Thanks to swift actions taken by Lamar CISD Assistant Athletic Trainer Jayci Boudreaux-Stewart, Lamar CISD Police Officer Edgar Villegas, and Student Athletic Trainers Hannah Thomas and Brayden Wheeler, a Lamar Consolidated High School student can breathe a sigh of relief for the foreseeable future.
“The faster we act in a cardiac situation, the better survival rates an individual in cardiac arrest has,” Boudreaux-Stewart said. “I am thankful that I was able to use my skills as a Certified Athletic Trainer to assist a student in need.”
The afternoon track practice on Feb. 22 started out routinely enough until one of the students collapsed outside the field house at Traylor Stadium.
The student had no pulse and stopped breathing.
Read on: https://www.fbherald.com/news/truly-lifesavers-all/article_b46c1e60-57e9-509d-abe1-0470c189cac5.html
Mayor Roth Honors County Dispatcher for Life-Saving Actions
Hawaiʻi County Mayor Mitch Roth honored Allison Ford for her actions that led to the resuscitation and recovery of Winnie Mochida of Honokaʻa.
Allison, a Fire Communications Officer II within the HFD, has been with the County for nearly four years. Her efforts earned her a Certificate of Commendation for outstanding proficiency and remarkable composure during a critical incident.
Upon receiving a 911 call reporting a medical emergency, Allison meticulously assessed the situation and provided clear, step-by-step CPR instructions to the caller. Her adept guidance over the phone was pivotal in ensuring the safety and well-being of the woman in distress and the reporting party.
Allison’s prompt and efficient intervention was crucial, leading to the patient’s swift transport to North Hawai‘i Community Hospital and subsequent full recovery.
Source: https://www.kpua.net/2024/03/12/mayor-roth-honors-county-dispatcher-for-life-saving-actions/
York man’s life saved by McDonald’s worker who used defibrillator
A man who had a cardiac arrest in a McDonald’s restaurant has thanked a quick-thinking member of staff for saving his life.
Paul Myers, from York, walked into the fast food outlet after feeling ill on his way to church in November.
After collapsing, a man performed CPR and the staff member used a defibrillator on him before he was taken by helicopter to hospital.
Mr Myers said without their intervention he “wouldn’t be here now”.
He told BBC Radio York he remembered feeling “so ill and could hardly breathe” and made a beeline for a nearby McDonald’s in order to sit down.
However, he said he had no memory of going inside and only knew what had happened because the events were recorded on CCTV.
“I stumbled forward, gashed my head and a member of the general public got up and gave me CPR – but we don’t know who that man is,” he said.
“Then one of the staff members at McDonald’s got a defibrillator and shot my heart.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-68555203
Cardiac arrests at home have nearly doubled, and this Corner Brook man is one of the lucky few who survived
Kevin McCarthy one of 60,000 in Canada who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital
Kevin McCarthy uses his shovel to pick away at the bit of ice left on his driveway. It’s the same spot where he suffered a cardiac arrest just months ago.
McCarthy, 59, was shovelling out his Corner Brook driveway in November when he felt pain in his chest and started to sweat.
After a cold shower, he told his wife to call 911.
By the time the ambulance arrived, he was flatlining.
“I was unresponsive. No pulse, no heartbeat,” McCarthy said.
Paramedics had to revive him three times, using CPR and a defibrillator.
“They gave me a shock. They got a pulse. They worked on me and lost me, and they gave me another shot of electricity and shocked me again,” said McCarthy.
Story with video: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/corner-brook-cardiac-arrest-1.7140408
Bulla Takes Another Step As Heart Safe Community
The Bulla community has welcomed a new heart-starting device, with a publicly accessible automated external defibrillator (AED) gifted as part of the town’s Heart Safe Community program.
The program is a year-long, joint initiative between Ambulance Victoria (AV) and the Heart Foundation, which equips residents of communities across the state with the skills to take life-saving action when someone suffers a cardiac arrest.
AV paramedic and Bulla Heart Safe Community program lead, Kathryn Addicott, said the new AED is an important step in boosting the town’s ability to respond to a cardiac arrest.
“AEDs are used to attempt to shock the heart back into rhythm following a cardiac arrest – which is when a person’s heart suddenly stops beating,” she said.
“Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.”
“About 20 Victorians suffer a cardiac arrest every day and only one in 10 survive.”
“Bystander intervention makes a big difference – when a patient in cardiac arrest receives CPR and a shock from an AED before paramedics arrive, their chance of survival more than doubles.”
Full story: https://www.miragenews.com/bulla-takes-another-step-as-heart-safe-community-1193731/
Optimal duration and timing of basic-life-support-only intervention for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
To elucidate the relationship between the interval from cardiopulmonary resuscitation initiation to return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and neurologically favourable 1-month survival in order to determine the appropriate duration of basic life support (BLS) without advanced interventions. This population-based cohort study included patients aged ≥ 18 years with 9132 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac origin who were bystander-witnessed and had achieved ROSC between 2018 and 2020. Patients were classified into two groups based on the resuscitation methods as the “BLS-only” and the “BLS with administered epinephrine (BLS-AE)” groups.
Read on: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-56487-3
Pop-up CPR Kiosk in North Philadelphia
Jenn Frederick visits a pop-up CPR kiosk set up by the American Heart Association at the North10 community center.
Video: https://www.fox29.com/video/1425052
Adventist Health-Care Institution Trains Children in First Aid
More than 34 children in northern Brazil recently learn how to provide first aid in emergencies. The children participated in the “Rescue Angels” initiative promoted by Belém Adventist Hospital in Pará and were awarded a certificate of completion during a special ceremony on March 5 at the health-care institution’s facilities.
The instruction, held between February 14 and March 5, sought to train children to be prepared for moments of risk and emergency. The children, aged 8 to 13, are sons and daughters of hospital workers and the first selected for this project. José Guataçara, a physician specialist in orthopedics and traumatology, taught the theoretical and practical classes.
“In this day and age, we tend to care for children without realizing the role they can play in family and social care,” Guataçara said. “This course highlights the importance of children in society. At this stage, they are receptive. Teaching them first aid techniques enables them to act in situations of choking, seizures, and cardiorespiratory arrest. In addition to saving lives, these guidelines awaken in them an interest in pursuing careers in the health area,” he added.
Read more at: https://adventistreview.org/news/adventist-health-care-institution-trains-children-in-first-aid/
Virtual Reality Simulation in Pediatric Resuscitation for Pre-hospital Providers
This is the first study exploring the feasibility and effect of pediatric VR simulations in pre-hospital providers. We found that the VR simulation was a feasible training tool for EMTs and paramedics with reported increases in confidence in caring for pediatric patients. These findings were similar to those of prior studies and illustrate the acceptability of VR simulations for pre-hospital providers [11-15].
Training during working hours was identified as one of the needs during a needs assessment for pre-hospital provider pediatric training [9]. This study is the first to evaluate the feasibility of the VR training tool while on shift with no orientation or dedicated education time. Sixty-three percent of the pre-hospital providers who were scheduled to work during the 10-day study period were able to complete the modules. This demonstrates the role of VR simulation in improving access to simulation training for pre-hospital providers in situ, on shift.
FACT SHEET: Biden – Harris Administration Launches the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose
Today, in support of President Biden’s Unity Agenda efforts to beat the overdose crisis, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose. The Challenge is a nationwide call-to-action to stakeholders across all sectors to save lives by committing to increase training on and access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medications.
An overdose can happen anywhere, to anyone. That’s why President Biden has worked to strengthen not only the whole-of-government response, but also the whole-of-society response to this public health and public safety crisis. Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic action to address the overdose crisis, including investing over $100 billion to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs and expand access to treatment. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved naloxone—a life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication—for non-prescription, over-the-counter use for the first time ever.
Today, we’re calling on organizations and businesses—big and small, public and private—across the country to help ensure all communities are ready to use this life-saving tool to reduce opioid deaths. As the drug supply has gotten more dangerous and lethal, we’re asking allies to join us because we all must do our part to keep communities safe.
ENCORE: Bystander CPR Less Likely for Women Regardless of Neighborhood’s Racial/Ethnic Mix
Women who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are less likely than men to receive bystander CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) application regardless of the racial and ethnic makeup of the neighborhood where the event took place, according to observational US data.
How often CPR is performed and how likely people are to live after OHCA are known to vary by neighborhood makeup, with previous studies showing low bystander CPR rates in predominantly Black neighborhoods and low survival after OHCA in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods. Women, more generally, have been reported to receive CPR, as well as other lifesaving therapies, less often than men after OHCA. Calls have been made for greater diversity in CPR training manikins, for example, for “womanikins,” and mobile applications have been created to foster equity, yet gaps in care gap remain.
Lead author Audrey Blewer, PhD, MPH (Duke University, Durham, NC), told TCTMD that this study’s findings, which speak to the intersection of race/ethnicity and sex, indicate an “across-the-board problem” regarding CPR and AED use for women no matter where their event takes place.
Read on: https://www.tctmd.com/news/bystander-cpr-less-likely-women-regardless-neighborhoods-racialethnic-mix
Spotlighting the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR)
VISION: Saving more lives globally through resuscitation.
MISSION: To promote, disseminate and advocate international implementation of evidence-informed resuscitation and first aid, using transparent evaluation and consensus summary of scientific data.
Visit ILCOR and learn more here: https://ilcor.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
The post Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest – Mar 15, 2024 appeared first on Code One CPR Training.
