10. I don’t want to get sued, despite the fact there are Good Samaritan Laws in every state that will protect me.

9. I don’t hang around old people, despite the fact that it has been proven that Sudden Cardiac Arrest can occur in people of ANY age, including children.

8. I can’t remember all those numbers and ratios. It is too much to ask me to remember the numbers 30, 2, and 100.

7. I’m afraid I might hurt them if I do CPR wrong, despite the fact they are, technically, already dead.

6. I don’t want to put my lips on a stranger, despite the fact that we now teach CPR as “hands only” in most situations, and with shields otherwise.

5. I’m afraid the person might die, even though they are, technically, already dead.

4. The EMTs and Paramedics can save them, despite the fact that an AED shock really needs to be delivered in 5 minutes, and average EMS response time is about 7 minutes.

3. Other people probably know what to do, so I don’t need to worry about it.

2. On TV, people usually survive, so it’s probably not even really needed.

1. I don’t have time to learn CPR. Now, please excuse me, I need to go stand in line for my Half Caf Triple Grande, 2 Pump Vanilla, 2 Pump Hazlenut, Half Skim, Half Soy, 170 degree, light foam, swirled counter clockwise, 1 Splenda Latte. And can I get one of those little muffins? And would you warm it up please? I’m meeting a friend.

http://www.newport-enterprises.com

Much has been made, lately, of the news of some professional athletes, primarily in Europe, who have experienced Sudden Cardiac Arrest while on the field of play.

In March, British soccer star Fabrice Muamba received nearly 3 dozen shocks from an AED, combined with immediate CPR and other life saving measures which began on the soccer field in front of thousands of spectators. Muamba survived, and has been discharged and is recovering and rehabilitating. That same month, 37 year old Olympic volleyball player Vigor Bovolenta collapsed and died during play. Last week, Italian soccer player Luigi Mascia, 25, collapsed and died, despite life saving attempts.

Think it can’t happen where you are? Think Sudden Cardiac Arrest is something that only happens to folks with high risk factors, or who are “old”? Think you can’t afford an AED? Think again.

It’s time to ensure that, if sports are being played, there is an AED on site, and folks trained in how to use it.

http://www.theheart.org/article/1385737.do

For those of who you believe that just doing CPR won’t help, read on. While having an AED is important, if the patient has a non-shockable rhythm, there is STILL a chance. This article is from the American Heart Association publication Circulation.

The latest major cardiopulmonary-resuscitation (CPR) study from Seattle shows that chest compressions can save the lives of people in cardiac arrest even if their arrhythmia does not respond to defibrillator shocks.

Dr Peter Kudenchuk (University of Washington, Seattle) and colleagues analyzed records of 3960 patients with nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest resulting from nonshockable initial rhythms that were treated with CPR by emergency personnel prior to the patient reaching a hospital. “Why the study is important is that a huge emphasis has been placed on treating patients with shockable arrhythmias. That’s why these public-access defibrillators and rapid shock [methods] have evolved and been promoted and rightly so, but shockable rhythms account for only a small proportion of cardiac arrests.”

Nonshockable cardiac arrest, including asystole and so-called pulseless electrical activity, represent about 75% of sudden cardiac-arrest cases, but this is the first study to rigorously evaluate whether CPR could improve survival in this group, he said. Results of the study are published online April 2, 2012 in the AHA Publication Circulation. All of the patients in the study were determined to have a nonshockable arrhythmia after the responders tried to defibrillate their hearts. “These patients do very poorly, because the only real therapies we have to throw at them are CPR and drugs and trying to find something reversible that may have caused the rhythm,” Kudenchuk stated.

All of the patients in this study were in King County, WA from 2000 to 2010, so the study was able to compare outcomes of patients in King County before and after the release of the 2005 American Heart Association CPR guidelines that encourage uninterrupted chest compressions. The 2010 guidelines also emphasize chest compressions. Kudenchuk explained that the current CPR guidelines “provide a stronger emphasis on ongoing minimally interrupted CPR and to reduce the time that a patient is in cardiac arrest and the hands are not actively pumping the chest. In simply deploying those guidelines—there is nothing magical about it—you can almost double survival from a non-survivable disease, and that is nonshockable cardiac arrest.” The patient demographics and general resuscitation characteristics were similar between the 1774 patients treated before the release of the 2005 guidelines and the 2186 people treated later. After adjustment for potential confounders, the post-2005-guidelines patients had a 50% better chance of regaining spontaneous circulation than the earlier patients, a 56% better chance of a favorable neurological outcome, and a 85% better chance of living one year. “Although survival in this group is smaller than in those who have a shockable rhythm, in part because we don’t have good treatments for them, you can have a meaningful impact by simply applying what we know, and that’s doing good CPR,” Kudenchuk stated.

Kudenchuk serves as volunteer contributor to the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation and the American Heart Association for development of resuscitation guidelines and receives financial support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in his roles as a coinvestigator in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium. Although these organizations may have intellectual interest in the findings of this study, no funding was received nor support sought from these sources for this study. Unrestricted support from the Laerdal Foundation also contributed to the compilation and analysis of these data.

No, this is not carte blanche to avoid your Spring Cleaning, folks. Just a few tips from your friendly EMS Provider…..enjoy!

1. Do not rush because you are tired or in a hurry.

This is really the most basic spring cleaning safety tip, and all the other ones, at least to a certain degree, stem from this one. Spring cleaning can be tiring work. Do not forget safety even if you have worked hard all day and want to get done. The better thing to do when you are exhausted is to stop and take a break, drink a glass of water, sit under a nice cool fan, and rest instead of being unsafe.

2. Be careful moving large pieces of furniture and appliances.

Use proper lifting technique, keeping you back straight and lifting with your legs. Also, wear shoes when moving heavy items so you don’t hurt your toes. Finally, if you feel it is just too heavy and you can’t find someone else to do it for you, just don’t move it. It won’t be the end of the world to just clean around it. Always have spring cleaning safety in mind.

3. Be safe while on ladders and step stools.

When doing a task, such as washing windows, where you need to be on a ladder use extreme caution. Do not lean too far to either side. A good rule of thumb is that your belly button should not go beyond the sides of the ladder. Also, have someone available to hold the ladder steady for you if possible, and make sure before you step on them that the rungs are not wet, and you are wearing non skid shoes. Also, never “jump” your ladder. If you don’t know what this means, nevermind. Yes, this means YOU, Nelson.

4. Be careful when walking on wet surfaces.

This spring cleaning safety tip is really important every time you clean. Everyone knows how easy it is to slip on a wet floor. Make sure you take the proper precautions to keep from falling. Also, make sure others in your family, including children, are also warned of the wet floor to keep them safe. You may need to block small children’s access to wet floors because they just don’t understand not to run and slide on them.

5. Keep stairs, landings, and walkways clear of boxes, bags and other clutter.

Spring cleaning is a great time to declutter your home, but you need to make sure all the boxes and bags of stuff you are getting rid of don’t cause a safety concern. Make sure you place them outside walkways and especially away from steps and stairs where someone may trip on them.

6. Don’t carry too much stuff at once, especially on stairs.

During spring cleaning you will also probably go up and down your stairs a lot carrying things if you live in a home with stairs. Make sure you keep a hand free to hold onto the stair railing. Also, whether you have stairs or not, always make sure you can see over the load you are carrying so you do not trip.

7. Always follow cleaning product label safety instructions and recommendations.

Cleaning supplies can create nasty fumes, so make sure you get some fresh air by opening windows, turning on the exhaust fan, or placing a fan in the room. In addition, do not mix ammonia and bleach together, both of which are common household cleaners, because they create toxic fumes when combined. When it doubt don’t mix, just use one product to get the job done. You should also wear rubber gloves to keep your hands from getting dry and cracked from the hot water and chemicals.

8. Wear a mask when cleaning dusty areas.

This may seem like overkill to some, but if you are at all allergic to dust this tip is very important.

9. Do not leave buckets filled with water around your home.

Even if you need to take a quick break make sure you empty that cleaning bucket, or at least put it in an inaccessible area. Even small amounts of water are a drowning hazard for small children.

10. Put away all your cleaning supplies when you are done.

When you finally finish your spring cleaning tasks for the day it is easy to say to yourself, “I’ll put these away later,” or “I am just going to use these again tomorrow, so I’m keeping them out.” Cleaning supplies are an attractive nuisance for our children and pets, something inviting that they should definitely not be getting into. Put the cleaning products away in a childproof cabinet for your children’s safety and well-being as soon as you are done with them.

Follow these spring cleaning safety tips to have a safe and productive spring cleaning!

AEDs are turning up in more and more places. Are you looking to make a donation? Consider a fund that will place AEDs in more places. You can have a direct impact.

BUFFALO, Minn. (FOX 9) – Two men — one a doctor and the other a banker — both shared a love of basketball, but neither could have imagined they would have shared a moment that would lead one to save the other’s life.

Dr. Frank Anderson’s love for basketball may have saved his life.

“This is, frankly, the only place I would have been in a good condition to have been saved,” Anderson said.

Twice a week, he comes to Discovery Elementary in Buffalo, Minn. to lay ball with friends and acquaintances — like Steve Huston. Huston was there during a late January morning when the unthinkable happened.

“The game was going on, and all of a sudden, we turned around and Frank had fallen backwards,” Huston recalled.

The 32-year-old doctor’s heart had suddenly stopped beating, and Huston sprang into action. He opened up the AED, which was just outside the gym, and put the pads on Anderson.

“Surprisingly, it called for us to shock him,” Huston said.

One shock brought Anderson back to life.

“I’m just thankful to God that the AED was here,” he said.

But it wasn’t there by coincidence. Huston is the owner of Bankwest, and their mission statement is a legacy of caring. In 2005, Huston and his family donated $12,000 to help place AEDs in the community — including one at the school as part of the Heart Safe program in Wright County.

“It really brought that mission forth in a way that — emotionally, it’s really special to me that we’re able to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Huston.

So far, 330 AEDs have been placed in the community — and people like Anderson are around today because of it.

It turns out that Anderson had a rare heart condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.

“This was way off the radar,” Anderson said. “Even in my practice, you see and hear about these conditions, but never think that this would be you.”

That condition depends on an electric shock to start the heart back up, and unfortunately, it’s usually not detected until it’s too late.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the efforts put in years ago,” said Anderson.

The commitment Huston made seven years ago will now allow Anderson to see his three young children grow up, and Anderson said he doesn’t think it’s any coincidence.

“I do think the Lord had it planned that it was going to happen here,” Anderson said
Read more: Basketball Playing Banker Saves Doctor http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/health/basketball-playing-banker-saves-doctor-mar-22-2012#ixzz1pwuzJ8vy

This is for those of you who don’t believe it’s necessary to learn CPR, or to have an AED nearby. This is for those of you who believe you are too young to have a need for regular checkups. This is for those of you who think that these things only happen to old or out of shape people.

Thankfully, ESPN abandoned their closeups of the care being given, but it is clear by the reactions of the crowd, what is happening. This is today’s news (3/18/2012). Currently, the player is fighting for his life in a UK Hospital. He is breathing on his own, and has said a few words. Doctors, and family are cautiously optimistic.

http://www.soccer-blogger.com/2012/03/18/fabrice-muamba-collapse-video-fa-cup-spurs-bolton-tie-abandoned/