October 29th event to feature rhythm and blues artist Jessica Lee
PITTSBURGH–October 22, 2008–The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation will host an awards reception on October 29th in Pittsburgh to honor the heroes who saved the life of national nonprofit leader, Maxwell King. The date is significant because Congress recently declared October “National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month” in an effort to raise awareness about the nation’s leading cause of death.
Mr. King is executive director of Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. On November 1, 2006, during his tenure as president of the Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh and chairman of the national Council on Foundations, Mr. King suffered SCA during a meeting of foundation leaders at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, making him nearly two in “survivor-years” at the time of his re-birthday celebration next week.
“About 500 Americans suffer sudden cardiac arrest every day and only 30 survive,” said Mary Newman, SCA Foundation president. “Fortunately, Mr. King was one of them, thanks to immediate action by bystanders and the foresight of community champions.”
King’s heroes include museum security officer Manuel Cienfuegos who notified EMS; assistant curators Rachel Delphia and Lucy Stewart Hykes and security officer Shelli Geyer who performed CPR; museum president Richard Armstrong and museum board member, Alex C. Speyer, III, who grabbed and used the museum’s automated external defibrillator (AED), and Donna Panazzi, who spearheaded an initiative to get AEDs into public buildings in downtown Pittsburgh.
“My case is a perfect illustration of the impact of early CPR and defibrillation,” said King, who was treated with mild therapeutic hypothermia in the hospital and now has an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). “I'm well aware that as a survivor, I'm in the minority. It’s time we changed that.
The reception will take place at Hyde Park, 247 North Shore Drive, Pittsburgh, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Vocalist Jessica Lee, who has performed in prominent music clubs locally and nationally, will sing during the event with her rhythm and blues, jazz and soul trio.
In addition to Mr. King and his rescuers, speakers will include Congressional candidate Melissa Hart, Srinivas Murali, MD, FACC, of the Gerald McGinnis Cardiovascular Institute at Allegheny General Hospital, and WTAE news anchor, Andrew Stockey. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA), who co-sponsored the Congressional resolution naming October SCA Awareness Month, also has been invited.
Event sponsors include St. Margaret Foundation, Cardiac Science, LifeCare Hospitals of Pittsburgh, St. Vincent College, and Health & Safety Institute.
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