The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and developments in sudden cardiac arrest prevention and treatment.
Father of the Bride Collapses at Wedding – Dramatically Showing Need for Public Access to AEDs
The best day of Ralla Shrit’s life turned into her worst nightmare in a matter of seconds. As she was cutting the cake at her wedding reception, her 60-year-old father collapsed and went into cardiac arrest in a Cincinnati hotel ballroom. For 10 excruciating minutes, nobody could find the hotel’s automated external defibrillator, or AED. Thanks… Read More
Pennsylvania Survivor Luncheon Celebrates New Beginnings
LANCASTER, PA -- Pennsylvania sudden cardiac arrest survivors, family members, EMS leaders and other emergency care providers gathered in Lancaster, PA, on Saturday to celebrate new beginnings. The luncheon was sponsored by Penn Medicine, the PA Heart Rescue Project, and the PA Department of Health, in partnership with the Sudden Cardiac Arrest… Read More
Pennsylvania Firefighters to Face Off Against Sudden Cardiac Arrest
PITTSBURGH, PA--For the second year in a row, Greater Pittsburgh firefighters and Johnstown, PA firefighters will be "facing off" against sudden cardiac arrest with one goal in mind—to save lives by raising awareness and educating through the work of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation. The second annual Steel City Fire on Ice Charity Classic… Read More
Three Little Letters That Could Make You A Big Hero At The Beach This Summer: CPR
New study shows that bystander CPR is associated with favorable neurological survival for drowning victims in cardiac arrest LOS ANGELES, CA -- Imagine yourself relaxing at the beach when the worst happens -- someone notices a boy in trouble in the water. In the mad rush to get him to shore, you have two choices: wait for emergency responders to… Read More
Chances of Receiving CPR At Home Decreases With Age
Updated data from Penn Medicine CPR survey underscores training disparities among older adults PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The likelihood of a family member or friend stepping in to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a person suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at home decreases with the victim's age, suggests a new study from Penn… Read More
Two UK Groups Recommend New Standard Sign for AEDs
Both the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the British Heart Foundation are committed to saving lives through ensuring more people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest from increased public education and awareness. Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) – where members of the lay public deliver defibrillation to a cardiac arrest victim before the… Read More
Female Medical Students Perform CPR Less Efficiently Than Male Counterparts
Does it matter whether a man or a woman carries out CPR? Researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have shown that female resuscitation teams performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation less efficiently than their male counterparts. The study suggests that there is a need for action in the training of young female physicians… Read More
Bystander CPR, Defibrillation Reduce Long-Term Odds of Brain Damage, Death
When a bystander gives CPR or applies an automatic defibrillator to someone who has collapsed from cardiac arrest, the benefits persist for at least a year. A Danish study has concluded that the two techniques lower the long-term risk of death from any cause, brain damage or nursing home admission by one third in people who are still alive 30… Read More
Researchers Find New Source of Dangerous Electrical Instability in the Heart
Sudden cardiac death resulting from fibrillation – an erratic heartbeat due to electrical instability – is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Now, researchers have discovered a fundamentally new source of that electrical instability, a development that could potentially lead to new methods for predicting and preventing life-… Read More