RICHMOND – A 57-year-old grandfather watching his granddaughter play in a high school basketball game collapsed in the stands Tuesday night, and authorities are crediting the skillful, quick use of an AED in reviving him.
Richmond-Burton High School athletic trainer Julianne Stewart administered a shock to the Poplar Grove man with an automated external defibrillator – one of four the school has on premises. He had suffered a heart attack and collapsed face forward about 7:15 p.m., just before half time, school and emergency officials said.
“Julianne Stewart had the wherewithal to get the AED and ... she delivered a shock to revive the gentleman,” Richmond Township Fire Protection District Chief Rick Gallas said. “By the time we got there, he was breathing and starting to talk.”
A Richmond emergency crew took the man, whose name was not released, to Centegra Hospital – McHenry.
Gallas also credited Dave Ernst, a father who was in the stands for his daughter’s basketball game, for performing CPR on the man before Stewart came over with the defibrillator.
“Dave determined that [the man] was not breathing; he was turning purple, and did CPR on him,” he said.
Richmond-Burton Principal Tom DuBois said the incident was a bit frightening, but that everyone involved responded appropriately and everyone was happy about the positive outcome.
“His son and daughter-in-law just stopped by to thank us,” DuBois said Wednesday morning. “They were on their way to the hospital to go see him. … He appears to be doing OK.”
Gallas said the quick response should greatly benefit the man’s recovery.
“It just goes to show the value of CPR and the use of an AED in the field,” said Gallas, who added that the fire department will present both Ernst and Stewart with a life safety award.
Ernst and Stewart were unavailable to comment Wednesday.
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
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Yeah - what he said.
The Athletic Heart: Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes
By Ramin Manshadi, MD, FACC, FSCAI, FAHA, FACP
Jan 11, 2012 - 10:32:17 PM
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is a non-traumatic, nonviolent, unexpected death due to cardiac causes within one hour of the onset of symptoms. Though there is no official registry, research suggests between 200-300 high school athletes die of SCD each year.
What Happens During Sudden Cardiac Death?
Simply, these athletes die of arrhythmias.
A correctly functioning heart has electrical activity going from the top of the heart to the bottom, making the heart squeeze and pump correctly. An arrhythmia is when the entire electrical portion of the heart is firing all at once. The muscle cannot function. The pumping fails. You pass out since you’re not getting enough oxygen to the brain, and in time you die. The most obvious sign of an arrhythmia is blacking out due to lack of blood pressure.
CPR doesn’t really revive you. That can happen, but CPR really just keeps your heart pumping blood through your body by pressing down on the chest. This keeps you alive until paramedics or someone arrives to perform more intensive intervention (like with a defibrillator) to restore heart function. In fact, you should be aware that CPR isn’t even always successful. It really needs to be performed perfectly to keep a patient alive. That’s why staying practiced and updated on its ever-improving protocols is so vital. If you ever have the opportunity to learn or review your CPR skills – take it.
Fortunately, young athletes are generally very healthy. As soon as they’re down, if you shock them with a defibrillator, their heart rhythm can restore. They come back very fast and are just like they were before. It’s pretty astonishing.
Prevention as Solution
If we have a policy in place in which a competent physician evaluates all athletes before they start rigorous exercise activity, we can prevent many young athletes from abruptly collapsing and dying.
Others have already begun doing this. In Northeastern Italy, a simple EKG test has been added to the examination of all athletes. An EKG is a simple exam costing only around $30. With this simple testing, they were able to cut down the risk of sudden cardiac death in their athletes by 85 percent!
We need to adopt using such a test in the United States as well. While there are more expensive tests one can do (like an echocardiogram), an EKG should be able to detect over 95 percent of those with the underlying conditions that could lead to sudden cardiac death.
Athletes should be aware of the possible warning signs of SCD, which include:
Chest pain
Palpations
Dizziness
Feelings of passing out
Shortness of breath outside of the norm one would expect with exercise
If experiencing these symptoms, a cardiologist knowledgeable about SCD in athletes should evaluate the person.
The Solution on the Field
While prevention is key, something can also be done if an arrhythmia causes an athlete to collapse.
A terrific device called a defibrillator sends a therapeutic dose of electrical current into a person’s body to normalize heart function in various life-threatening situations. It’s what you’ve seen on TV and in movies, where paramedics place paddles on the patient’s chest in a hospital or, and the heart is “shocked” back into beating correctly.
In real life, if someone collapses and you get to him or her within five minutes and shock him or her out of arrhythmia, they will likely survive. But if it takes longer than five minutes to shock them in this manner, the likelihood of survival is almost zero. That’s why these devices need to be at athletic fields everywhere. The time it takes for someone to phone for help, for paramedics to arrive and get to the student, break out the equipment and use it – will most likely exceed those precious five minutes.
Portable Automatic Defibrillators
Fortunately, there are also portable “automatic” defibrillators. Even a person with little training can use one. You simply attach the leads to the chest, press the button, and it performs its own diagnosis and shock. So if someone collapses, you grab it and use it right away before paramedics even get there. If a portable automatic defibrillator is applied within the first minute, the survival rate is 90 percent. But if no such defibrillator is present, then survival drops to five percent, even with CPR. These defibrillators cost about $2000 each, but if one of these can save someone’s life, they’re worth many times that. It is imperative that high schools and colleges possess these life-saving tools.
Most recently, The Sacramento Kings basketball organization realized the importance of schools having portable “automatic” defibrillators, and has been working to create a PSA (public service announcement) to raise awareness of sudden cardiac death in athletes. In fact, once the owners, Gavin and Joe Maloof, originally became aware of this project, they immediately got personally involved. Geoff Petrie, the General Manager, similarly offered to support the cause without hesitation. In addition, their media team has shown a genuine caring attitude in their assistance with this PSA community.
Athletics Offers Terrific Benefits
Athletics has benefits far beyond the exercise and fitness. It has the positive effect of socialization, competitiveness and teamwork, Plus the sense of achieving a goal. Every student-athlete should be involved in some sport. Not necessarily to become a pro and earn money, but to develop these values that will help in their future and daily work lives.
Being competitive, while also being a gentleman or gentlewoman as an athlete, is an example of what can help you to be successful in life.
It is important to relate this because while there are risks in everything, there are distinct benefits as well. It wouldn’t be beneficial for parent or student to shy away from participating in athletics because of anything that has been presented here.
It is important to relay health information like what has been described above, even if it makes some people uncomfortable. Perhaps that discomfort will motivate others to champion their own quest to enhance protections for our young athletes.
Knowledge is Powerful
Bottom line, athletes must simply be informed about their own body and how it functions, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their team too. If you see a teammate experiencing a medical “event”, everyone else might stand around not knowing what happened (possibly thinking the fallen individual only had the wind knocked out of him). But you, with the knowledge presented here, may jump into action. Start CPR while yelling for someone to call 911, or summon the proper equipment to resuscitate someone. Perhaps an athlete’s life will be saved – simply because someone took the time to read this article.
Dr. Ramin Manshadi is a Board-Certified physician with the American Board of Interventional Cardiology, American Board of Cardiology, American Board of Internal Medicine and is Board-Eligible with the American Board of Nuclear Cardiology. He is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Cardiology at UC Davis Medical Center. Dr. Manshadi was named a “2011 Top Cardiologist” by U.S. News & World Report. He is the author of The Wisdom of Heart Health: Attaining a Healthy and Robust Heart in Today’s Modern World. For more information, please visit, www.DrManshadi.com.
By Ramin Manshadi, MD, FACC, FSCAI, FAHA, FACP
Jan 11, 2012 - 10:32:17 PM
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is a non-traumatic, nonviolent, unexpected death due to cardiac causes within one hour of the onset of symptoms. Though there is no official registry, research suggests between 200-300 high school athletes die of SCD each year.
What Happens During Sudden Cardiac Death?
Simply, these athletes die of arrhythmias.
A correctly functioning heart has electrical activity going from the top of the heart to the bottom, making the heart squeeze and pump correctly. An arrhythmia is when the entire electrical portion of the heart is firing all at once. The muscle cannot function. The pumping fails. You pass out since you’re not getting enough oxygen to the brain, and in time you die. The most obvious sign of an arrhythmia is blacking out due to lack of blood pressure.
CPR doesn’t really revive you. That can happen, but CPR really just keeps your heart pumping blood through your body by pressing down on the chest. This keeps you alive until paramedics or someone arrives to perform more intensive intervention (like with a defibrillator) to restore heart function. In fact, you should be aware that CPR isn’t even always successful. It really needs to be performed perfectly to keep a patient alive. That’s why staying practiced and updated on its ever-improving protocols is so vital. If you ever have the opportunity to learn or review your CPR skills – take it.
Fortunately, young athletes are generally very healthy. As soon as they’re down, if you shock them with a defibrillator, their heart rhythm can restore. They come back very fast and are just like they were before. It’s pretty astonishing.
Prevention as Solution
If we have a policy in place in which a competent physician evaluates all athletes before they start rigorous exercise activity, we can prevent many young athletes from abruptly collapsing and dying.
Others have already begun doing this. In Northeastern Italy, a simple EKG test has been added to the examination of all athletes. An EKG is a simple exam costing only around $30. With this simple testing, they were able to cut down the risk of sudden cardiac death in their athletes by 85 percent!
We need to adopt using such a test in the United States as well. While there are more expensive tests one can do (like an echocardiogram), an EKG should be able to detect over 95 percent of those with the underlying conditions that could lead to sudden cardiac death.
Athletes should be aware of the possible warning signs of SCD, which include:
Chest pain
Palpations
Dizziness
Feelings of passing out
Shortness of breath outside of the norm one would expect with exercise
If experiencing these symptoms, a cardiologist knowledgeable about SCD in athletes should evaluate the person.
The Solution on the Field
While prevention is key, something can also be done if an arrhythmia causes an athlete to collapse.
A terrific device called a defibrillator sends a therapeutic dose of electrical current into a person’s body to normalize heart function in various life-threatening situations. It’s what you’ve seen on TV and in movies, where paramedics place paddles on the patient’s chest in a hospital or, and the heart is “shocked” back into beating correctly.
In real life, if someone collapses and you get to him or her within five minutes and shock him or her out of arrhythmia, they will likely survive. But if it takes longer than five minutes to shock them in this manner, the likelihood of survival is almost zero. That’s why these devices need to be at athletic fields everywhere. The time it takes for someone to phone for help, for paramedics to arrive and get to the student, break out the equipment and use it – will most likely exceed those precious five minutes.
Portable Automatic Defibrillators
Fortunately, there are also portable “automatic” defibrillators. Even a person with little training can use one. You simply attach the leads to the chest, press the button, and it performs its own diagnosis and shock. So if someone collapses, you grab it and use it right away before paramedics even get there. If a portable automatic defibrillator is applied within the first minute, the survival rate is 90 percent. But if no such defibrillator is present, then survival drops to five percent, even with CPR. These defibrillators cost about $2000 each, but if one of these can save someone’s life, they’re worth many times that. It is imperative that high schools and colleges possess these life-saving tools.
Most recently, The Sacramento Kings basketball organization realized the importance of schools having portable “automatic” defibrillators, and has been working to create a PSA (public service announcement) to raise awareness of sudden cardiac death in athletes. In fact, once the owners, Gavin and Joe Maloof, originally became aware of this project, they immediately got personally involved. Geoff Petrie, the General Manager, similarly offered to support the cause without hesitation. In addition, their media team has shown a genuine caring attitude in their assistance with this PSA community.
Athletics Offers Terrific Benefits
Athletics has benefits far beyond the exercise and fitness. It has the positive effect of socialization, competitiveness and teamwork, Plus the sense of achieving a goal. Every student-athlete should be involved in some sport. Not necessarily to become a pro and earn money, but to develop these values that will help in their future and daily work lives.
Being competitive, while also being a gentleman or gentlewoman as an athlete, is an example of what can help you to be successful in life.
It is important to relate this because while there are risks in everything, there are distinct benefits as well. It wouldn’t be beneficial for parent or student to shy away from participating in athletics because of anything that has been presented here.
It is important to relay health information like what has been described above, even if it makes some people uncomfortable. Perhaps that discomfort will motivate others to champion their own quest to enhance protections for our young athletes.
Knowledge is Powerful
Bottom line, athletes must simply be informed about their own body and how it functions, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their team too. If you see a teammate experiencing a medical “event”, everyone else might stand around not knowing what happened (possibly thinking the fallen individual only had the wind knocked out of him). But you, with the knowledge presented here, may jump into action. Start CPR while yelling for someone to call 911, or summon the proper equipment to resuscitate someone. Perhaps an athlete’s life will be saved – simply because someone took the time to read this article.
Dr. Ramin Manshadi is a Board-Certified physician with the American Board of Interventional Cardiology, American Board of Cardiology, American Board of Internal Medicine and is Board-Eligible with the American Board of Nuclear Cardiology. He is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Cardiology at UC Davis Medical Center. Dr. Manshadi was named a “2011 Top Cardiologist” by U.S. News & World Report. He is the author of The Wisdom of Heart Health: Attaining a Healthy and Robust Heart in Today’s Modern World. For more information, please visit, www.DrManshadi.com.
IT WORKS
By Kevin Haas
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Jan 11, 2012 @ 04:56 PM
RICHMOND — Authorities say the quick use of CPR and a defibrillator saved the life of a 57-year-old Poplar Grove man who collapsed Tuesday in the stands of a high school basketball game.
The man, whose name was not released, suffered a heart attack just before half time of the Richmond-Burton vs. North Boone girls basketball game and collapsed into the bleachers around 7:15 p.m., Richmond Township Fire Protection District Chief Rick Gallas said.
Several people immediately came to the man’s aid, said Belvidere Police Department Deputy Chief Dave Ernest, who was in the stands to watch his daughter, Malli, a junior on the team.
Ernest performed CPR until Richmond-Burton High School athletic trainer Julianne Stewart used an automated external defibrillator to deliver a dose of electrical energy to the man’s heart, Gallas said.
“It was amazing. He just came to,” Ernest said. “Everybody was there coaching, helping and doing anything they can.”
The man was transported to Centegra Hospital in McHenry, where he is recovering.
The chances of successful recovery increase the faster the response.
“When we teach CPR and we teach AED, we say that quick action is what makes the difference in saving a person’s life,” Gallas said. “This person’s life was definitely saved by quick action.”
RICHMOND — Authorities say the quick use of CPR and a defibrillator saved the life of a 57-year-old Poplar Grove man who collapsed Tuesday in the stands of a high school basketball game.
The man, whose name was not released, suffered a heart attack just before half time of the Richmond-Burton vs. North Boone girls basketball game and collapsed into the bleachers around 7:15 p.m., Richmond Township Fire Protection District Chief Rick Gallas said.
Several people immediately came to the man’s aid, said Belvidere Police Department Deputy Chief Dave Ernest, who was in the stands to watch his daughter, Malli, a junior on the team.
Ernest performed CPR until Richmond-Burton High School athletic trainer Julianne Stewart used an automated external defibrillator to deliver a dose of electrical energy to the man’s heart, Gallas said.
“It was amazing. He just came to,” Ernest said. “Everybody was there coaching, helping and doing anything they can.”
The man was transported to Centegra Hospital in McHenry, where he is recovering.
The chances of successful recovery increase the faster the response.
“When we teach CPR and we teach AED, we say that quick action is what makes the difference in saving a person’s life,” Gallas said. “This person’s life was definitely saved by quick action.”
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
An AHA Call To Arms
TUESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- People who suffer sudden cardiac arrest are more likely to survive if 911 and EMS dispatchers help bystanders assess victims and begin CPR immediately, says a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association.
One of its main goals is to increase how often bystanders perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
"I think it's a call to arms," statement lead author E. Brooke Lerner, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, said in an AHA news release. "It isn't as common as you think, that you call 911 and they tell you what to do."
The statement includes four recommendations:
Dispatchers should assess whether someone has had a cardiac arrest and if so, tell callers how to administer CPR immediately.
Dispatchers should confidently give hands-only CPR instructions for adults who have had a cardiac arrest not caused by asphyxia (as in drowning).
Communities should measure performance of dispatchers and local EMS agencies, including how long it takes until CPR is begun.
Performance measurements should be part of a quality assurance program involving the entire emergency response system including EMS and hospitals.
The statement, released Jan. 9, was published simultaneously in the journal Circulation.
Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when a problem arises with electrical impulses in the heart, causing it to stop beating normally. The survival rate for people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital is only 11 percent.
Each year in the United States, more than 380,000 people are assessed by EMS for sudden cardiac arrest.
Rapid assessment and early CPR are among the links in the "Chain of Survival" that can improve a person's chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest. Other links include rapid defibrillation, effective advanced life support and integrated post-cardiac arrest care.
People who don't have CPR training are often afraid to help. But even if a person is suffering from something other than cardiac arrest, "the chances that you're going to hurt somebody are very, very small," Lerner said. "And if you do nothing, they're not getting the help that's going to save their life."
More information
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about sudden cardiac arrest.
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
One of its main goals is to increase how often bystanders perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
"I think it's a call to arms," statement lead author E. Brooke Lerner, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, said in an AHA news release. "It isn't as common as you think, that you call 911 and they tell you what to do."
The statement includes four recommendations:
Dispatchers should assess whether someone has had a cardiac arrest and if so, tell callers how to administer CPR immediately.
Dispatchers should confidently give hands-only CPR instructions for adults who have had a cardiac arrest not caused by asphyxia (as in drowning).
Communities should measure performance of dispatchers and local EMS agencies, including how long it takes until CPR is begun.
Performance measurements should be part of a quality assurance program involving the entire emergency response system including EMS and hospitals.
The statement, released Jan. 9, was published simultaneously in the journal Circulation.
Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when a problem arises with electrical impulses in the heart, causing it to stop beating normally. The survival rate for people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital is only 11 percent.
Each year in the United States, more than 380,000 people are assessed by EMS for sudden cardiac arrest.
Rapid assessment and early CPR are among the links in the "Chain of Survival" that can improve a person's chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest. Other links include rapid defibrillation, effective advanced life support and integrated post-cardiac arrest care.
People who don't have CPR training are often afraid to help. But even if a person is suffering from something other than cardiac arrest, "the chances that you're going to hurt somebody are very, very small," Lerner said. "And if you do nothing, they're not getting the help that's going to save their life."
More information
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about sudden cardiac arrest.
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Consider HCM Screening, AED at games?
Teenage footballer dies after scoring goal
A 13-year-old schoolboy died after scoring a goal during a football match in Staffordshire.
Liam Wood collapsed on the pitch just after he had scored a fifth goal for AFC Saints.
The match was on playing fields off Cotswold Avenue in Knutton, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, on Sunday morning.
Liam was resuscitated by people at the game and was then put in an ambulance. He died later in hospital.
Geoff Green, the manager of the opposition team, Stafford Falcons, said: "Liam scored a goal and he was running back up the pitch celebrating, when he just collapsed, fell to the floor.
"After a short period of time, he wasn't coming round - it looked as though he'd stopped breathing - so we started giving him mouth to mouth and CPR, at which time the ambulance was called as well."
Mr Green said that the ambulance arrived quickly.
"It upset everybody... it was just a shame that there was nothing we could do at the time, more than what we could have done. It all happened so quick."
A 13-year-old schoolboy died after scoring a goal during a football match in Staffordshire.
Liam Wood collapsed on the pitch just after he had scored a fifth goal for AFC Saints.
The match was on playing fields off Cotswold Avenue in Knutton, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, on Sunday morning.
Liam was resuscitated by people at the game and was then put in an ambulance. He died later in hospital.
Geoff Green, the manager of the opposition team, Stafford Falcons, said: "Liam scored a goal and he was running back up the pitch celebrating, when he just collapsed, fell to the floor.
"After a short period of time, he wasn't coming round - it looked as though he'd stopped breathing - so we started giving him mouth to mouth and CPR, at which time the ambulance was called as well."
Mr Green said that the ambulance arrived quickly.
"It upset everybody... it was just a shame that there was nothing we could do at the time, more than what we could have done. It all happened so quick."
Thursday, January 5, 2012
This doesn't have to depend upon having a PhyEd teacher or a nurse nearby.
As reported in The Republic (Columbus, Indiana) from an API story.
Staffers revive Columbia Falls High School student who collapsed in gym class
KALISPELL, Mont. — Columbia Falls High School staffers used CPR and an automated external defibrillator to restore the heartbeat of a 16-year-old student who collapsed during gym class.
The Daily Inter Lake reports (http://bit.ly/wNCj7v) health and physical education teacher Troy Bowman and school nurse Cathy Dragonfly aided the boy Wednesday morning. He was then taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit later Wednesday.
Superintendent Michael Nicosia says it is unclear what caused the student to collapse.
[Blogger's note: If the AED restored his heartbeat, the cause of his collapse was Sudden Cardiac Arrest.]
Monday, January 2, 2012
Why does it have to take a death to get people to do what needs to be done?
from the Madison Patch
DHHS Boy's Lacrosse May Just Save Your Life
It all started when Daniel Hand High School's Coach Lombardo and Assistant Coach George Baldassare of the Boys Lacrosse Program in Madison spoke to the Northport, N.Y. Boys’ Lacrosse Coach at the Annual DHHS Hammonasset Boys Jamboree in March.
The Northport coach told the Madison coaches that Northport brings their own AEDs or Automatic External Defibrillators to all lacrosse games and other athletic events, ever since Northport lost 14-year-old Louis Acompora, a lacrosse goalie in 2000.
Louis sustained a blunt blow to his chest from a lacrosse ball, which caused a condition called commotio cordis. Commotio Cordis occurs when the chest sustains a blunt blow during the precise moment the heart is at rest between beats. The heart quivers and goes into an irregular rhythm, which can be reversed only by defibrillation. Commotio Cordis causes SCA, sudden cardiac arrest. Each year thousands of healthy young people suffer sudden cardiac arrest and death, which can often be prevented. In 2000, there were no state laws mandating AEDs in schools. Unfortunately, Louis passed away due to SCA.
In 2007, Connecticut’s own Norwich Larry Pontbriant, a very athletic 15-year-old dropped dead in front of his parents while running. He too was a lacrosse player. Though CPR was initiated immediately, the ambulance with the AED was not able to reach Larry in time to save him. Brain damage from lack of oxygen can occur in as little as 4 to 6 minutes. After a brief time in the hospital, Larry passed away. The AED arrived too late to save Larry.
Every minute an AED isn’t used during sudden cardiac arrest, one’s chance of survival decreases 7 to 10%. After three minutes, survival rates decrease dramatically. According to “The Larry Pontbriant Athletic Safety Fund” website, “CPR at best is only 25% efficient at pumping enough blood to the brain in SCA though necessary.” Thus, it is imperative that AEDs are readily accessible and available. Commotio Cordis and sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, young or old.
DHHS Varsity Lacrosse Captains Paul Alberti, Chad Crisco and Casey Dowd wanted their program to give back to the community.
After talking, fund raising, a very generous donation from a lacrosse parent, and much research, they decided they would ask the lacrosse program to purchase and donate an AED to a Connecticut school that was in need.
The Connecticut legislature passed in July of 2009 currently states that schools in the state are required to have AEDs as well as provide the necessary training of staff. The school staff must also maintain the AED. This bill became effective in 2010. Unfortunately a local or regional board of education shall not be required to comply with the provisions if federal, state or private funding is not available to such local and regional board of education to purchase an AED and pay for the training of school personnel.
After The DHHS lacrosse players approached the boys Lacrosse boosters with this fabulous idea, how could we say nom said Valerie Alberti and Shelly Farmer, co-presidents of the boosters. The vote was a unanimous ‘"yes" across the board.
Attempts were made to contact the Athletic Director of the New Haven Schools. The understanding was that most if not all New Haven schools had AEDs. Pontbriant's mom told Alberti and Farmer that The Pontbriant Athletic Safety Fund was founded to raise funds for the purchase of AEDs for schools and athletic fields. So far they have donated over 75 AEDs to those in need.
Please log onto Parent Heart Watch, you will see many survival stories, as well as stories that touch the heart.
So after much research and investigating, The DHHS Lacrosse boy’s teams discovered an AED would be greatly appreciated in their own back yard.
Madison’s middle school, Polson, wanted and needed and AED in their gym lobby. Though the school is already equipped with an AED, it was felt one was needed closer to the gymnasium and to the high school turf for easy accessibility. The question of where to donate the AED was solved.
After approval from the Madison Board of Education and the superintendent, the boys decided they would like to donate the AED in honor of their former lacrosse teammate, Jordan Kinscherf.
It all started when Daniel Hand High School's Coach Lombardo and Assistant Coach George Baldassare of the Boys Lacrosse Program in Madison spoke to the Northport, N.Y. Boys’ Lacrosse Coach at the Annual DHHS Hammonasset Boys Jamboree in March.
The Northport coach told the Madison coaches that Northport brings their own AEDs or Automatic External Defibrillators to all lacrosse games and other athletic events, ever since Northport lost 14-year-old Louis Acompora, a lacrosse goalie in 2000.
Louis sustained a blunt blow to his chest from a lacrosse ball, which caused a condition called commotio cordis. Commotio Cordis occurs when the chest sustains a blunt blow during the precise moment the heart is at rest between beats. The heart quivers and goes into an irregular rhythm, which can be reversed only by defibrillation. Commotio Cordis causes SCA, sudden cardiac arrest. Each year thousands of healthy young people suffer sudden cardiac arrest and death, which can often be prevented. In 2000, there were no state laws mandating AEDs in schools. Unfortunately, Louis passed away due to SCA.
In 2007, Connecticut’s own Norwich Larry Pontbriant, a very athletic 15-year-old dropped dead in front of his parents while running. He too was a lacrosse player. Though CPR was initiated immediately, the ambulance with the AED was not able to reach Larry in time to save him. Brain damage from lack of oxygen can occur in as little as 4 to 6 minutes. After a brief time in the hospital, Larry passed away. The AED arrived too late to save Larry.
Every minute an AED isn’t used during sudden cardiac arrest, one’s chance of survival decreases 7 to 10%. After three minutes, survival rates decrease dramatically. According to “The Larry Pontbriant Athletic Safety Fund” website, “CPR at best is only 25% efficient at pumping enough blood to the brain in SCA though necessary.” Thus, it is imperative that AEDs are readily accessible and available. Commotio Cordis and sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, young or old.
DHHS Varsity Lacrosse Captains Paul Alberti, Chad Crisco and Casey Dowd wanted their program to give back to the community.
After talking, fund raising, a very generous donation from a lacrosse parent, and much research, they decided they would ask the lacrosse program to purchase and donate an AED to a Connecticut school that was in need.
The Connecticut legislature passed in July of 2009 currently states that schools in the state are required to have AEDs as well as provide the necessary training of staff. The school staff must also maintain the AED. This bill became effective in 2010. Unfortunately a local or regional board of education shall not be required to comply with the provisions if federal, state or private funding is not available to such local and regional board of education to purchase an AED and pay for the training of school personnel.
After The DHHS lacrosse players approached the boys Lacrosse boosters with this fabulous idea, how could we say nom said Valerie Alberti and Shelly Farmer, co-presidents of the boosters. The vote was a unanimous ‘"yes" across the board.
Attempts were made to contact the Athletic Director of the New Haven Schools. The understanding was that most if not all New Haven schools had AEDs. Pontbriant's mom told Alberti and Farmer that The Pontbriant Athletic Safety Fund was founded to raise funds for the purchase of AEDs for schools and athletic fields. So far they have donated over 75 AEDs to those in need.
Please log onto Parent Heart Watch, you will see many survival stories, as well as stories that touch the heart.
So after much research and investigating, The DHHS Lacrosse boy’s teams discovered an AED would be greatly appreciated in their own back yard.
Madison’s middle school, Polson, wanted and needed and AED in their gym lobby. Though the school is already equipped with an AED, it was felt one was needed closer to the gymnasium and to the high school turf for easy accessibility. The question of where to donate the AED was solved.
After approval from the Madison Board of Education and the superintendent, the boys decided they would like to donate the AED in honor of their former lacrosse teammate, Jordan Kinscherf.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)