Saw it on TV. Used it to save son's life.

Morris Plains father urges parents to learn CPR
Matt Manochio: (973) 428-6627; mmanochio@njpressmedia.com

MORRIS PLAINS — Arif and Nadia Mahmood didn’t know CPR before their son’s heart stopped.

They’d seen it performed on television before, so when their 20-month-old baby, Sarim, stopped breathing on June 18, they did the best they could — and forunately it worked.

Sarim is genetically predisposed and at high risk for sudden cardiac death because he has what’s known as Long QT Syndrome, an inherited condition that causes disruptions in the heart’s electrical system, said Lauren Woods, senior media relations specialist for NYU Langone Medical Center, where the youngster is a patient.

“It can trigger the heart’s pumping rhythm to go suddenly awry anytime before stopping altogether,” she said.

“My wife started screaming,” Arif Mahmood, a borough resident, said Friday. “He was not moving, he was not breathing.”

Arif Mahmood said he began performing mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions on his son. He said his wife took over for him so he could call 911.

Sarim began breathing, weakly, when police and an ambulance arrived, and he began crying when an oxygen mask was placed over his tiny mouth.

“We had no CPR training,” he admitted.

That, and much else, has changed.

Dr. Steven Fishberger, an NYU Langone pediatric electrophysiologist, on June 20 installed inside little Sarim an implantable cardiac defibrillator, Woods said.

Just like a pacemaker, this ICD device helps prevent a patient from suffering sudden cardiac death, Woods said. It works by monitoring the heart to detect any abnormal rhythms.

If a dangerous arrhythmia is detected, the ICD delivers an electrical shock to restore the heart’s normal rhythm and prevent sudden cardiac death.

Fishberger credited Mahmood and his wife for being able to perform CPR, without knowing it, under pressure.

“To be able to do it under those circumstances is remarkable,” he said Friday.

Fishberger recommended people who think they might have this condition to see a doctor for an electrocardiogram.

He said if people have unexpected fainting spells, or fainting during exercise, they should also be screened for Long QT Syndrome.

Arif said he and his wife knew about the Long QT Syndrome, and that Sarim was taking medicine for it.

Doctors discovered Sarim had trouble hearing after he was born, and this led to further testing which uncovered the Long QT Syndrome. Sarim also wears a cochlear implants to help him hear.

They just didn’t think his heart would stop, even though they knew there was that possibility.

That’s why he’s urging parents not to risk anything when it comes to their child’s condition.

He said he’s grateful for the help NYU gave his son, and the education they gave to him and his wife.

An NYU Langone social worker taught them CPR, and Sarim is doing well. He’s scheduled to return there Monday for his first post-surgery appointment.

Fishberger said he expects Sarim to live an otherwise normal life.