Every Naperville Central High School student is required to complete a CPR course before they graduate, with the hope they never have to use it.
On Sunday night, Central junior John McCarthy, who is only halfway through the class, had to use it and it worked.
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McCarthy is being credited by Palos Park firefighters for helping save the life of a man injured in a one-car crash in the southwest suburb.
Palos Park Fire Chief Steve Carr said a husband and wife were driving home Sunday evening on 131st Street, two blocks west of LaGrange Road, when the husband had an undisclosed “health episode” and lost control of the car.
“The driver left the roadway and drove into a condominium subdivision where he struck a utility pole and transformer box before he crashed into a condo building,” Carr said. “The vehicle was in bad shape and all of the air bags were deployed.”
McCarthy, who Carr said was visiting family members in the subdivision, came upon the scene and saw the wife attempting CPR. Carr said McCarthy evaluated the situation and told the woman he was trained in CPR and could help.
“(McCarthy) was quickly able to determine there was no pulse and the man was not breathing,” Carr said. “So he did his compressions and performed CPR until paramedics arrived and took over.”
Carr would not identify the driver but said he was being treated at Palos Community Hospital.
“This young man made a positive difference in the outcome of this call,” Carr said. “I don’t know what the outcome would have been had this young man not been in the right place at the right time. His actions afforded this gentleman every opportunity to survive this episode.”
Word of McCarthy’s heroics quickly spread through the halls of Naperville Central. Physical education coordinator Neil Duncan said he sought McCarthy out to congratulate him.
“He saved a life with his training but his comment to me was ‘anyone in class would have done the same thing,’” Duncan said. “I’d like to think that, too, but we’re all very impressed with his actions.”
Carr said he was impressed with both McCarthy and the training he received and will honor the student at a Palos Fire Protection District board meeting.
“I believe it takes a great amount of resolve to jump into a situation like that and act on behalf of a complete stranger,” Carr said. “So a selfless act like this needs to be recognized.”
McCarthy was unavailable for comment Monday.
Read more: http://dailyherald.com/article/20110307/news/703079886/#ixzz1GIfeqZmT
When you see a cardiac arrest, your brain fights you - "No, this isn't really happening" - and the circumstances fight you - "Dang! in CPR class the manikin didn't weigh very much and wasn't sitting in a deep chair. This blog deals with practical details and presents reports of "saves." Let me have your questions and comments - they will steer the course of this blog. This blog is brought to you by the volunteers at www.slicc.org
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Bystander CPR helped save Conn. man's life
More and more we are seeing these stories.
If you haven't been trained in the past two years, please get trained, dag nab it. (Thank you Gabby H.)
Bob
_________________________
A bystander, a nurse, and an off-duty New York City firefighter performed CPR on Ryan DeJonghe when he went into cardiac arrest
By Brian McCready
New Haven Register
WEST HAVEN, Conn. — Ryan DeJonghe says he would not be alive today if his parents weren't visiting from Ohio.
DeJonghe, 35, said if they weren't visiting, he would not have gone out to eat at Red Robin restaurant at the Westfield Connecticut Post mall in Milford on Feb. 19, a day that changed his life.
It was at Red Robin where DeJonghe went into cardiac arrest, and because of the quick action of several people, the father of two is alive.
"Usually, I would either be home alone with the kids or with my wife and kids. If that was the case, I wouldn't be (here) today," DeJonghe said.
DeJonghe, who came home from the hospital Tuesday, recalled feeling well, and then being shocked back to life in the emergency room at Milford Hospital.
If you haven't been trained in the past two years, please get trained, dag nab it. (Thank you Gabby H.)
Bob
_________________________
A bystander, a nurse, and an off-duty New York City firefighter performed CPR on Ryan DeJonghe when he went into cardiac arrest
By Brian McCready
New Haven Register
WEST HAVEN, Conn. — Ryan DeJonghe says he would not be alive today if his parents weren't visiting from Ohio.
DeJonghe, 35, said if they weren't visiting, he would not have gone out to eat at Red Robin restaurant at the Westfield Connecticut Post mall in Milford on Feb. 19, a day that changed his life.
It was at Red Robin where DeJonghe went into cardiac arrest, and because of the quick action of several people, the father of two is alive.
"Usually, I would either be home alone with the kids or with my wife and kids. If that was the case, I wouldn't be (here) today," DeJonghe said.
DeJonghe, who came home from the hospital Tuesday, recalled feeling well, and then being shocked back to life in the emergency room at Milford Hospital.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Another save in Albany CA
On Feb. 5, the Fire Department responded to a report of a woman who wasn't breathing.
"Upon arrival we found a female, supine on the ground, with bystander CPR in progress. CPR was stopped and it was determined the patient had a carotid pulse with no respirations," wrote Capt. John Weitzel on Feb. 15 in a report to Chief Marc McGinn. "The patient was place on our Phillips monitor and ventilations were initiated. Shortly after ventilations began the patient went into cardiac arrest with a shockable rhythm.... The patient was defibrillated ... resulting in a pulse with a viable rhythm and ... stable blood pressure."
Fire department personnel continued to ventilate the woman, established an intervenous line and provided further life support care, according to Weitzel. The Berkeley Fire Department continued advance life support care and took the woman to the hospital.
Weitzel said he spoke with the woman on Feb. 15.
"She told me she did not suffer any deficits as a result of this incident," he wrote. "I would like to thank all those involved, especially the bystanders at the Albany YMCA for their courageous actions. Bystander assistance and CPR is paramount to the chain of survival and recovery of anyone in such a critical situation."
"Upon arrival we found a female, supine on the ground, with bystander CPR in progress. CPR was stopped and it was determined the patient had a carotid pulse with no respirations," wrote Capt. John Weitzel on Feb. 15 in a report to Chief Marc McGinn. "The patient was place on our Phillips monitor and ventilations were initiated. Shortly after ventilations began the patient went into cardiac arrest with a shockable rhythm.... The patient was defibrillated ... resulting in a pulse with a viable rhythm and ... stable blood pressure."
Fire department personnel continued to ventilate the woman, established an intervenous line and provided further life support care, according to Weitzel. The Berkeley Fire Department continued advance life support care and took the woman to the hospital.
Weitzel said he spoke with the woman on Feb. 15.
"She told me she did not suffer any deficits as a result of this incident," he wrote. "I would like to thank all those involved, especially the bystanders at the Albany YMCA for their courageous actions. Bystander assistance and CPR is paramount to the chain of survival and recovery of anyone in such a critical situation."
The Science Behind Compressions Explained
[This is as reported by Richard Huff in JEMS]
Richard Huff, EMT-B | | Friday, March 4, 2011
The new 2010 American Heart Association ECC guidelines were designed to get around things that didn’t work for years—and were not backed by science, according to Joseph Ornato, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.
“We’ve really had to admit in many cases, the science isn’t there to support the things we’ve done in the guidelines for decades,” Ornato told attendees at the EMS Today Conference & Exposition in Baltimore.
“We’re really trying to be brutally honest and not get distracted by things that really don’t work,” Ornato says, “and rather do a handful of things that do work, and really pound home the realization of those elements.”
Late last year, the guidelines were released, putting an emphasis on chest compressions. The guidelines upended the previous thinking that had rescuers providing ventilation before beginning compressions and the rapid introduction of defibrillation.
However, research showed that compressions first provided better results. Likewise, going to compressions first also encourages bystanders to get involved where they might not have in the past because of fears of doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Ornato says the notion of compressions first—and an emphasis on uninterrupted chest compressions—actually surfaced much earlier in Europe.
“The Europeans were kind of way ahead of us in being enlightened in terms of what the sequence is,” he says. “We’ve finally come around to admit they were kind of right from the beginning.”
The new compressions-airway-breathing model works best with witnessed cardiac arrests in public places, he says. Part of that is because folks who go down in public places tend to not be high-risk patients with underlying health issues. Part is also the ability of bystanders to get involved quickly and begin the process of resuscitation before trained rescuers arrive.
“What we’re left with us resuscitation and rescue, and that’s of course, a very time critical and very much dependent on us in EMS to stretch the window of time, to get help there quickly, and to get the help of bystanders,” says Ornato, who’s also the medical director for the Richmond (Va.) Ambulance Authority.
He says the good part is that most adults have pulseless ventricular tachycardia when they arrest in a public place have, and most of those people have plenty of oxygen in their lungs to be moved by compressions only.
Without effective chest compression, oxygen flow to the brain and heart stops, drugs that could help aren’t circulated, and ultimately, defibrillation is ineffective. Also, practice is required to minimize the interruptions in chest compressions to deliver a shock, he says.
Compressions build coronary perfusion pressure, he says. And research has indicated it can take 10 compressions after a rescuer stops compressions for ventilation or another intervention before the pressure is back up. He says data indicates an estimated three to five percent of EMS calls are for cardiac arrest.
Ornato says the National Institute of Health is preparing to launch a randomized test to measure the concept of whether everyone should be doing continuous compressions; they’re hoping to get 12,000 cases examined.
On the ALS side, quantitative waveform capnography is the most reliable method to confirm and monitor correct endotracheal (ET) tube placement, Ornato says. He noted a study in Orlando where one in four ET tubes were misplaced, a figure that dropped to zero after capnograpy was introduced.
He also says, the fifth link in the chain of survival is post-cardiac arrest care, which was added to emphasize the importance of comprehensive multi-disciplinary care through hospital discharge and beyond.
Ornato says it was “a very exciting time in resuscitation and it’s rapidly evolving.”
Richard Huff, EMT-B | | Friday, March 4, 2011
The new 2010 American Heart Association ECC guidelines were designed to get around things that didn’t work for years—and were not backed by science, according to Joseph Ornato, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.
“We’ve really had to admit in many cases, the science isn’t there to support the things we’ve done in the guidelines for decades,” Ornato told attendees at the EMS Today Conference & Exposition in Baltimore.
“We’re really trying to be brutally honest and not get distracted by things that really don’t work,” Ornato says, “and rather do a handful of things that do work, and really pound home the realization of those elements.”
Late last year, the guidelines were released, putting an emphasis on chest compressions. The guidelines upended the previous thinking that had rescuers providing ventilation before beginning compressions and the rapid introduction of defibrillation.
However, research showed that compressions first provided better results. Likewise, going to compressions first also encourages bystanders to get involved where they might not have in the past because of fears of doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Ornato says the notion of compressions first—and an emphasis on uninterrupted chest compressions—actually surfaced much earlier in Europe.
“The Europeans were kind of way ahead of us in being enlightened in terms of what the sequence is,” he says. “We’ve finally come around to admit they were kind of right from the beginning.”
The new compressions-airway-breathing model works best with witnessed cardiac arrests in public places, he says. Part of that is because folks who go down in public places tend to not be high-risk patients with underlying health issues. Part is also the ability of bystanders to get involved quickly and begin the process of resuscitation before trained rescuers arrive.
“What we’re left with us resuscitation and rescue, and that’s of course, a very time critical and very much dependent on us in EMS to stretch the window of time, to get help there quickly, and to get the help of bystanders,” says Ornato, who’s also the medical director for the Richmond (Va.) Ambulance Authority.
He says the good part is that most adults have pulseless ventricular tachycardia when they arrest in a public place have, and most of those people have plenty of oxygen in their lungs to be moved by compressions only.
Without effective chest compression, oxygen flow to the brain and heart stops, drugs that could help aren’t circulated, and ultimately, defibrillation is ineffective. Also, practice is required to minimize the interruptions in chest compressions to deliver a shock, he says.
Compressions build coronary perfusion pressure, he says. And research has indicated it can take 10 compressions after a rescuer stops compressions for ventilation or another intervention before the pressure is back up. He says data indicates an estimated three to five percent of EMS calls are for cardiac arrest.
Ornato says the National Institute of Health is preparing to launch a randomized test to measure the concept of whether everyone should be doing continuous compressions; they’re hoping to get 12,000 cases examined.
On the ALS side, quantitative waveform capnography is the most reliable method to confirm and monitor correct endotracheal (ET) tube placement, Ornato says. He noted a study in Orlando where one in four ET tubes were misplaced, a figure that dropped to zero after capnograpy was introduced.
He also says, the fifth link in the chain of survival is post-cardiac arrest care, which was added to emphasize the importance of comprehensive multi-disciplinary care through hospital discharge and beyond.
Ornato says it was “a very exciting time in resuscitation and it’s rapidly evolving.”
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Family Of Fallen Athlete Intends To Sue
Teen Collapsed, Died During Basketball Game On 18th Birthday
POSTED: Monday, February 28, 2011
UPDATED: 4:41 pm EST February 28, 2011
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For Harvetta and Phillip Jackson Jr., announcing their intent to file a lawsuit in the wake of their son's death was almost as difficult as the day he died.
"It destroyed me," Harvetta Jackson said of her son's death. "It was his 18th birthday. It was an awful day."
"It's just such a horrible tragedy," she said. "I look at pictures of him, and I can't believe he's gone."
In December 2009, Phillip Jackson III collapsed during halftime of a holiday basketball tournament at Terry Parker High School.
"When we were called back there, to see him facedown, I said, 'Son, what's wrong? What's up? And it was shocking," Phillip Jackson Jr. said.
Phillip Jackson III (right) stands with his mom during his football team's senior night at Sandalwood High School.
The Sandalwood senior football and basketball player and father never regained consciousness. He died from sudden cardiac arrest.
Attorney Steve Pajcic said Jackson's death could have been prevented. He said the coaches and police officers there should have tried to save him instead of waiting for an emergency medical technician to arrive.
Pajcic also blames the 911 operator for not giving the caller CPR instructions.
"If they're in a situation where someone lost consciousness, you call 911 and you do CPR," he said.
Pajcic and Jackson's parents have sent a letter to the city, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the Duval County School Board and two state agencies asking for a change in the system. They want to make sure this never happens again. "If left up to me, no one else's child will ever die from someone not calling 911 immediately or not doing CPR to help your child," Harvetta Jackson said.
The School Board said it hasn't yet received the paperwork and said it is too soon to comment.
The family is seeking monetary damages up to $200,000. The law firm said it will not take any money that comes out of the case, but if any does come, it will be given to Phillip Jackson III's son, who was 14 months old when he died.
POSTED: Monday, February 28, 2011
UPDATED: 4:41 pm EST February 28, 2011
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For Harvetta and Phillip Jackson Jr., announcing their intent to file a lawsuit in the wake of their son's death was almost as difficult as the day he died.
"It destroyed me," Harvetta Jackson said of her son's death. "It was his 18th birthday. It was an awful day."
"It's just such a horrible tragedy," she said. "I look at pictures of him, and I can't believe he's gone."
In December 2009, Phillip Jackson III collapsed during halftime of a holiday basketball tournament at Terry Parker High School.
"When we were called back there, to see him facedown, I said, 'Son, what's wrong? What's up? And it was shocking," Phillip Jackson Jr. said.
Phillip Jackson III (right) stands with his mom during his football team's senior night at Sandalwood High School.
The Sandalwood senior football and basketball player and father never regained consciousness. He died from sudden cardiac arrest.
Attorney Steve Pajcic said Jackson's death could have been prevented. He said the coaches and police officers there should have tried to save him instead of waiting for an emergency medical technician to arrive.
Pajcic also blames the 911 operator for not giving the caller CPR instructions.
"If they're in a situation where someone lost consciousness, you call 911 and you do CPR," he said.
Pajcic and Jackson's parents have sent a letter to the city, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the Duval County School Board and two state agencies asking for a change in the system. They want to make sure this never happens again. "If left up to me, no one else's child will ever die from someone not calling 911 immediately or not doing CPR to help your child," Harvetta Jackson said.
The School Board said it hasn't yet received the paperwork and said it is too soon to comment.
The family is seeking monetary damages up to $200,000. The law firm said it will not take any money that comes out of the case, but if any does come, it will be given to Phillip Jackson III's son, who was 14 months old when he died.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Bystanders’ actions save man from cardiac arrest at Milford mall Published: Saturday, February 26, 2011
See what I mean?
MILFORD — A 35-year-old man is alive today because two bystanders acted quickly after he went into cardiac arrest at a restaurant, a fire official said Friday.
Fire Capt. Chris Zak said the man was eating lunch Feb. 19 at Red Robin Restaurant inside the Westfield Connecticut Post mall when he went into cardiac arrest.
Fortunately for the victim, several people played a critical role in ensuring he was resuscitated.
The rescue began when Red Robin manager Curtis Kilburn quickly notified 911 and called mall security, Zak said.
Then two bystanders, who had emergency response training, quickly began cardiopulmonary resuscitation because the man was not breathing, and had no pulse, Zak said.
Jeanne DeMello, a nurse, and Mark Kipstein, an off-duty New York City firefighter, did the CPR.
Mall security personnel arrived with an automatic external defibrillator and hooked up the patient to the machine within minutes of his collapse, Zak said.
Mall security personnel Brian Carson and Michael Todd used the defibrillator to shock the man’s heart back into normal rhythm, Zak said.
Within four minutes of the initial 911 call, Fire Department paramedics were providing advanced life support to stabilize the man’s heart rhythm, Zak said.
The man was then taken to Milford Hospital by American Medical Response ambulance, with paramedics assisting.
“It is only because of the quick thinking of some trained individuals that this person is now alive,” Zak said.
He noted the city was recently a designated a HEARTSafe community by the state Department of Public Health.
The distinction means more than 60 city employees and residents are trained on how to use an automated external defibrillator.
There are 20 defibrillators in public facilities, including City Hall, Milford Library, Parsons Government Center, and the schools.
Fire Chief Louis LaVecchia has said if a defibrillator is applied within the first minute of a person having a cardiac episode the survival rate is 90 percent.
“This type of action and response shows that lives can be saved when all the factors are in place and performed in a timely fashion. It is only because of the actions of all the individuals mentioned that this male patient is alive today,” Zak said.
Bystanders perform CPR on runner whose heart stops during 15-kilometre race
We're seeing this more and more. Now if we could just get more public access and personal AED's deployed.
TAMPA, Fla. — Bystanders performed CPR on a runner whose heart stopped during a race in Tampa.
The Tampa Fire Rescue Department says the 54-year-old man collapsed while running Saturday in the 15-kilometre Gasparilla Distance Classic.
Bystanders performed CPR until two fire rescue medics could reach him and resuscitate him. Fire rescue officials say the man was talking by the time he arrived at a hospital. He also suffered facial injuries from the fall.
The runner's name was not released.
Fire rescue officials say they received about two dozen calls during the race for heat exhaustion and minor injuries such as trips and falls.
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