Close call on school field carries lessons

October 11, 2011 | 3:00 p.m. Lessons can be learned from tragic events. In Baltimore County, we are fortunate that recently lessons have emerged, but a tragedy was averted.

Fast action and the fortunate presence of expertise combined on Sept. 27 to save the life of a teenager who went into cardiac arrest on an athletic field at Catonsville High School.

Breanna Sudano, a freshman on the Perry Hall High School junior varsity field hockey team, collapsed at the conclusion of a game at Catonsville High.

Among those present who were able to respond quickly to the emergency were two coaches and three nurses — one of them a cardiac nurse. They worked as a team to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Almost unquestionably, they saved this young athlete's life. They kept her pulse going until paramedics arrived and gave the girl an electric shock from an automated external defibrillator, which boosted her heartbeat.

One nurse later told a reporter she could not have done it alone. "There is no way one person could have done CPR by themselves. It was a team effort," she said.

The incident highlighted some issues that are worth discussing.

First, while a 2006 state law requires that an AED be available at a school for sporting events, the one at Catonsville was in the school building, some distance from the field.

Second, emergency response vehicles pulled into the wrong entrance at the stadium. The school's address covers a wide area and the caller did not specify the field where the incident was happening.

It's important that emergency responders know the layout of the high schools nearby. With the addition of lights and artificial turf, and fields now in use by recreation department and interscholastic programs, the potential for injury has gone up.

In any such emergency incident, it would seem a review of protocols and response is in order. Likely, it's already under way and will serve to sharpen preparedness.

That's a good thing. After all, next time, a lifesaving team may not be on the sideline.

It's either sloppy reporting or really tragic.

A math teacher at East Central High School died Monday morning after collapsing before classes started, officials said.

Melinda Villegas, 23, a full-time math teacher for all grades at the high school, was with colleagues, who “immediately started assisting her and went to get our school nurse's assistant to administer CPR,” said Stevie Gonzales, an East Central Independent School District spokeswoman.

“EMS continued the CPR in transporting her to Mission Trail Baptist Hospital,” where she was pronounced dead around 8 a.m., Gonzales said.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/East-Central-teacher-23-dies-after-collapsing-2212049.php#ixzz1aQfmU64I

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[note: the obvious concern when reading "...with colleagues, who “immediately started assisting her and went to get our school nurse's assistant to administer CPR." is the implication that nobody called 911 or started CPR before the Nurse's Assistant arrived. This also implies that nobody defibrillated her promptly at the scene.

The Phoenix airport has a ten year average survival from witnessed cardiac arrests with major brain functions intact of 75%, as opposed to a 6% survival rate with no worse than a CPC 2 score when all that is done is call 911 and wait for the ambulance. The answer is call 911, start CPR immediately, and defibrillate promptly.]

About half...

...of the people interviewed in 2007 know or were able to guess the difference between a sudden cardiac arrest and a heart attack.

When the score is that close to 50/50, usually folks are guessing.

It's important because immediate 911 and CPR. plus prompt defibrillation are essential to cardiac arrest survival with major brain function intact, and 911 is essential for a heart attack. The defibrillator won't hurt the heart attack victim, but CPR would be inappropriate and dangerous.

Fortunately, they are easy to tell apart, once you've been told the difference: The sudden cardiac arrest victim - the one that needs 911 + CPR + AED - is non-responsive and not breathing, either normally or at all.

If you are not trained, check the video at www.slicc.org/ClassVideo and then get the people whom you frequently are near trained, too.

It's a 35 minute video. There HAS to be a 35 minute slot available in your schedule sometime. You have about a ten percent of seeing a family member, friend, or acquaintance die from a sudden cardiac arrest in your lifetime. It would be better for all if you were to watch the video before that happens, rather than after.

Do the Fire and Police Vehicles...

all carry AED's where you live and work?

Shock, sorrow after teen cheerleader's death in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — When students returned for school Monday morning at Washington Prep, they were to be greeted by crisis counselors and missing one of their beloved classmates, a cheerleader who died after collapsing during a football game.

Angela Gettis, a 16-year-old sophomore at the school, was rallying the crowd Friday night in the fourth quarter of a tie game at Fremont High School when she suffered an apparent cardiac arrest, Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman Tom Waldman said.

The game stopped as coaches and trainers ran to help. Bystanders performed CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Gettis died about three hours later at a hospital, becoming the second teenage girl from Los Angeles district schools to die over the weekend after a dramatic campus incident.

School officials planned to discuss Gettis at a Monday morning news conference.

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[Question: was there an AED there, and was it used? rht]

SCA Hits Perry Hall High JV Field Hockey Team

Trauma Strikes the Field Hockey Teams Wednesday, September 28, 2011 By Ethan Muller From Perry Hall High's online newspaper

In life, situations can go from happy and exciting to gloomy and traumatic in a matter of seconds. Last night, September 27, 2011 the JV and Varsity Field Hockey teams experienced one of these moments. Shortly after scoring the winning goal, her second of the afternoon, a freshman on the JV team collapsed on the field at Catonsville High School. The coaches and athletic director rushed to provide medical assistance. The staff administered CPR immediately, which saved the young athlete's life.

While CPR was being administered, another person present at the game called 911 for an ambulance. Upon the arrival of paramedics, she was breathing but remained unconscious. The Varsity game, which was scheduled to directly follow the JV match, was postponed.

After being taken to St. Agnes and confirmed stable, she was moved to the pediatric unit at University of Maryland. The doctors have yet to find a cause of her collapse and tests are still being done. Perry Hall wishes nothing less than a speedy recovery for the student and our thoughts go out to her family and teammates.

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A few points about this story that are interesting...

First, with no mention of AED use by the staff, we either have to assume that it happened but was not reported, or we have to assume that the victim enjoyed a return of spontaneous circulation ("ROSC") on chest compressions alone. I've only seen that happen in one of the forty-nine cardiac arrest events in which i've been involved.

Second, with ROSC and being in a coma (CPC score of 4), this person was an ideal candidate for therapeutic hypothermia ("TH"). We can't tell from the article whether or not TH was applied.

Third, the CPC score of 4 makes me wonder how long the time between the arrest and the initiation of CPR was. If the time was 5 minutes - and you'd be amazed at how fast five minutes can add up - I can understand the CPC 4 score. If the CPR were, indeed, more immediate, there might well be something else going on.

Injured Healdsburg Driver Out of Coma

Police said Charles Matlak was talking and visiting with a family member at hospital.

This article was updated on Monday, Sept 26, 2011.

A Healdsburg man seriously injured in a single-car crash Thursday on University Street is starting to recover and was taken out of a medically induced coma at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, police said Monday.

"His sister flew in to be with him, and she said he was talking with her today at the hospital," said Healdsburg Police Officer Steve Moore. "He's doing a lot better."

Moore identified the man as Charles Matlak, 59, of Healdsburg, a self-employed sales and marketing specialist.

Matlak suffered what Moore said appeared to be a heart attack while driving his Mercedes SUV on University Street at about 3 p.m. Thursday. The attack caused him to crash the car into a power pole.

Moore on Monday confirmed reports over the weekend from Healdsburg Police Cpl. Tanya Potter that emergency measures by police and bystanders likely saved Matlak's life.

Police used an AED, or automatic external defibrillator, to restore Matlak's heartbeat, and bystanders applied CPR.

"It looks like all the life-saving devices that were used at the scene saved his life," Potter said Sunday.

Thursday's crash led to a seven-hour power outage until utility crews could repair the damage.