Football player watches his team win after dying of a sudden cardiac arrest.

[ NB: There's more than a ten percent chance that you'll witness a family member or friend have a sudden cardiac arrest someday As you read the story below, think about how you will feel if that person stays dead because you didn't know what to do. Bob] (from katc.com) It's been four months since Breaux Bridge High School Sophomore Teddrick Lewis was on the football field. He went into cardiac arrest during a practice in May. Teddrick is not playing ball anymore but Friday nights, he's back on the field with his team and he has his coaches to thank for it. "Last thing I remember, I was on a helicopter," Teddrick recalled. "I was just hearing noise and breathing funny." The Breaux Bridge sophomore collapsed on the field and became unresponsive. After that, his memory went hazy. Coach Paul Broussard had just seconds to act. "When we got to him, he was on his stomach so we rolled him over and our first thought was he was having a seizure," Coach Broussard said. But it wasn't a seizure. Teddrick was going into cardiac arrest. Coach Broussard's training immediately kicked-in as he started giving Teddrick CPR. Another coach grabbed a portable defibrillator. "It was hard to realize what had happened," Coach Broussard said of the situation. Today, Teddrick can no longer play any contact sports, but that's not keeping him from being with the team and the coach who helped save his life. "I'm always telling my coaches 'thank you for saving my life.'" Teddrick says, "without them, I wouldn't be here right now." And Tedderick is not only thankful for his coaches but Breaux Bridge also walked away with a win Friday night at Comeaux High.

And Another Save

By JON ERICSON, jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com | Posted: Friday, September 16, 2011 11:05 am | CEDAR FALLS, Iowa ---- A race for one high school athlete turned into a fight for life. A 17-year-old Decorah cross country runner collapsed Thursday evening while running in the Rich Engel Cross Country Classic at Birdsall Park in Cedar Falls. A spectator at the event, Dr. Greg Hoekstra, began doing CPR on him until a Cedar Falls police officer Sam Shafer and reserve officer Bob Wright arrived on the scene. The officers had an automated external defibrillator and administered the shock to jump start the young man's heart. The athlete was taken to Sartori Hospital. Sartori personnel called the on-scene response a "textbook save" and noted that CPR alone would most likely not have saved the student's life. Cedar Falls Police have been carrying the defibrillators in each squad car for about eight years. Each officer is re-certified to use the devices each year. "Frequently we're on the scene before ambulances and paramedics, so you have to do what you can," said Police Chief Jeff Olson. "We're just thrilled when we can do something like this to help." The athlete's name has not been released. Read More: runner collapses

It's happening more and more often...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A Notre Dame fan who had a heart attack during last weekend's game at Michigan survived to watch the final touchdowns from a hospital bed, the school said Thursday. Leo Staudacher's heart stopped during the second quarter of Saturday night's game at Michigan Stadium, the school said. The 69-year-old Bay City man survived thanks in part to one bystander who performed CPR and others who called for a medical team who used an automated electric defibrillator on site. "My family watched while they shocked me with the paddles," Staudacher, who was visiting Ann Arbor with his sons ages 45, 48 and 50, said in a statement released by the school. "But it was the fans and their prompt CPR that saved my life."

Isn't it becoming obvious?

Consider a few facts:

• The Phoenix airport has a seventy-five percent survival rate for witnessed cardiac arrests. Last time I checked, Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta's Hartsfield were around sixty percent. The CARES database reflects a twenty-seven percent average for all airports in participating communities.
• Twenty-seven percent of the people who had a sudden cardiac arrest in a doctor's office survived...the same percentage as for the average airport.
• Sixty-six percent of all sudden cardiac arrests happen in the home. Fifteen percent of the survivors in the Survivor Network had their arrests at home.

We know what it takes to make survivors out of sudden cardiac arrest victims:

• Call for help (911)
• Perform CPR immediately and without interruption
• Defibrillate promptly
• Prompt arrival of ALS Ambulance
• Definitive care at the hospital

PEOPLE WHO SURVIVE A CARDIAC ARREST GET IMMEDIATE CPR AND PROMPT DEFIBRILLATION. IT'S NOT A GUARANTEE, BUT WITHOUT THOSE TWO ELEMENTS, YOU ARE TOAST!

• MAKE SURE THAT ALL THOSE AROUND YOU KNOW BYSTANDER CPR.
• MAKE SURE THAT AN AED IS NO MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES AWAY, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

Please!

OK, the principal was right. Bug your principal to do the same, PLEASE!

Business Wire · Mehr Nachrichten von Business Wire · Archiv 15-Year-Old High School Football Player in Louisiana Saved with ZOLL AED Plus Coaches and Team Practiced CPR Just Weeks Before Life-Saving Event>/i> ZOLL Medical Corporation (Nasdaq GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, reported today that football coaches at Breaux Bridge High School in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, combined CPR and a ZOLL AED Plus® to save the life of a freshman football player on May 19. The coaches launched into lifesaver mode when they spotted then 15-year-old Teddrick Lewis lying face-down on the sidelines during a football scrimmage. Because of their preparedness and quick action, Lewis has just started his sophomore year of high school. According to Head Coach Paul Broussard, Lewis collapsed moments after leaving the field and was sprawled out on the ground with his face buried in the grass. Instinct and training immediately took over for Broussard and his staff. "Because we had a plan in place, we knew exactly what we had to do. Just two or three weeks earlier, our principal and nursing staff was adamant that we simulate a mock rescue drill after school. We had the whole football team there, and they put us on the clock," said Broussard. "Thank goodness for that drill. We never thought we would have to use it so soon after." He went on to explain how when Teddrick collapsed, an assistant coach raced off to retrieve the AED Plus, another coach called 911, while yet another began CPR as someone removed Teddrick''s shoulder pads. The routine and the training just kicked in and adrenaline took over. "The AED Plus worked great. It told us exactly what to do. We gave him a shock when it advised, then resumed CPR as it instructed, and after the second shock, he started to come around. By the time the Arcadian Ambulance paramedics and an Arcadian Air Med team arrived, about 10 minutes later, Teddrick had regained consciousness," said Broussard. "It wasn''t until later, when I started thinking about it, that I realized the magnitude of the situation and felt scared." As for Teddrick, he says the last thing he remembers was walking off the field feeling very tired, and then waking up in a helicopter wearing an oxygen mask. He was airlifted to Lafayette General Hospital, about 30 minutes away, where he was treated and released a week later. While he''s not sure he''ll be able to play football again, he says he''s forever grateful to the coaches. "They saved my life. And because of them I got to celebrate my 16th birthday on June 5 and can now continue my education." The AED Plus the coaches used to help save Teddrick was donated to Breaux Bridge High School by the Louisiana Mississippi West Tennessee District of Kiwanis International. Its District AED Project is a multi-year initiative to place AEDs in every school in Louisiana, Mississippi and West Tennessee. ZOLL offers the AED Plus units to the district at a discounted price, and then each club raises funds from local businesses and organizations to purchase AEDs for the schools. To date, the clubs have placed over 330 AEDs in schools in the tri-state district and at least six lives have been saved. About the AED Plus The ZOLL AED Plus is the first and only full-rescue AED that provides Real CPR Help® for depth and rate of chest compressions during CPR. ZOLL''s enhanced Real CPR Help technology is fully compliant with the 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for deeper CPR chest compressions to help responders provide high-quality CPR. The AED Plus guides rescuers through the complete Chain of Survival, helping all sudden cardiac arrest victims, not just those who need a shock. About Sudden Cardiac Arrest SCA is an abrupt disruption of the heart''s function, which causes a lack of blood flow to vital organs. It claims more than 325,000 lives each year in the U.S. SCA is the leading cause of unexpected death in the world and strikes without warning. Currently, 95 percent will die from SCA. About ZOLL Medical Corporation ZOLL Medical Corporation develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and monitoring, circulation and CPR feedback, data management, fluid resuscitation, and therapeutic temperature management, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, and lay rescuers treat victims needing resuscitation and critical care. A NASDAQ Global Select company and a Forbes 100 Most Trustworthy Company in 2007, 2008, and 2009, ZOLL develops and manufactures its products in the United States, in California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. More than 400 direct sales and service representatives, 1,100 business partners, and 200 independent representatives serve our customers in over 140 countries around the globe. For more information, visit www.zoll.com. Certain statements contained in this press release, including statements regarding the anticipated development of the Company''s business,our belief regarding revenues,and other statements contained herein regarding matters that are not historical facts, are "forward-looking" statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995).Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company''s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on December 17, 2010 and updated in the Company''s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed subsequently to the Form 10-K, including the Form 10-Q Quarterly Report filed on August 8, 2011. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this press release, and the Company disavows any obligation to update or supplement those statements in the event of any changes in the facts, circumstances, or expectations that underlie those statements. Copyright © 2011 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. AED Plus, Real CPR Help and ZOLL are trademarks or registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

A Stunning 75% save rate!

From JEMS... (full article) Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport may be one of the best public places in the country to survive a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Indeed, thanks to an innovative public AED program initiated 10 years ago at the airport, the rate of people surviving witnessed cardiac arrests and being released from a hospital neurologically intact is a stunning 75%. “If you want to have your heart stop beating, have it [occur] at the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport,” says Debbie Thomas, RN, a paramedic training coordinator for the Phoenix Fire Department.

Magic Words

Magic words: "...CPR was performed and a defibrillator was used" It makes a huge difference!

Runner in downtown Duluth race revived after suffering cardiac arrest
Gene Curnow, 67, of Saginaw, a veteran racer and race organizer, suffered a cardiac arrest after finishing the All City Mile run Sunday.
By: News Tribune staff, Duluth News Tribune

Gene Curnow, 67, of Saginaw, a veteran racer and race organizer, suffered a cardiac arrest after finishing the All City Mile run Sunday.

He was attended to at the finish line by paramedics, race volunteers and a fellow runner, and was revived and taken to the cardiac intensive care unit at St. Luke’s hospital. He was being kept overnight for tests, said his wife, Barb.

Curnow has completed more than 200 marathons and ultramarathons (races longer than 26.2 miles) and has worked, with his wife, in putting on races in the area, including the Minnesota Voyageur Trail Ultramarathon 50-Miler in Carlton.

However, in three of the past four years he’s been slowed by Lyme disease, and there is a family history of heart disease, Barb Curnow said.

Gene Curnow finished Sunday’s mile race in 8 minutes, 16 seconds and was talking with runners afterward when he became lightheaded and fell to the ground. CPR was performed and a defibrillator was used, and he was alert when taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s. He had finished the 2011 Grandma’s Marathon in 5:28:05 on June 18.