The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and developments in sudden cardiac arrest prevention and treatment.
Kelsey Grammer Survives SCA
July 24, 2008–LOS ANGELES–Television star Kelsey Grammer, best known from “Cheers” and his sitcom “Frasier,” nearly died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) last month, he told U.S. showbiz news program “Entertainment Tonight.” Grammer, 53, felt chest pains while paddle-boarding with his wife in Hawaii, where they have a second home, and… Read More
A Gallon of Milk, An Angel and a Defibrillator is All One Needs...
Mary Jo Cipollini, Poughkeepsie, NY – 36 at time of event (2002) A trip to the supermarket can change your life forever. Mary Jo had taken her two-year-old Tommy, and her parents, grocery shopping one morning in early October. At the store, she received a call from the nurse at her six-year-old daughter’s school, asking Mary Jo to pick Ally up… Read More
Miracle Man Looks to God for Guidance.
Tomas Schafer, Boise, ID – 61 at time of event (2008) He’s six-foot tall, strong and fit, and weighed 200 lbs before he began exercising one Monday afternoon in February this year. Tomas can’t really tell you what happened. In fact this ex-sports-journalist told me can’t even remember the 2008 Super Bowl. “We had… Read More
For Colby It Was Nearly RIP at the PIR!
Colby Brooks, Portland, OR – 30 at time of event (2008) Colby Brooks is an athlete, just like his brothers. “I’m super-active,” he says with pride, describing how he goes hiking and biking alone into the mountains with 80 pounds of camping gear on his back. While he wouldn’t class his physical exertions as extreme sports, you could certainly say… Read More
SCA Survivors Can Expect Good Long-term Quality of Life
July 17, 2008–MARBURG, Germany-- Resuscitated cardiac arrest patients treated in an ICU who leave the hospital without severe neurological disabilities may expect a reasonable quality of life over the next five years, a German study found. "We believe our study is the first to demonstrate that patients who leave the hospital following cardiac… Read More
One Cardiac Arrest, Two Lives and Four Decades of Cardiac Education!
Jose Antoni, M.D., Corpus Christi ,TX – 40 at time of event (1967) Dr. Antoni recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of his cardiac arrest and the memory of that day is still fresh. He and a friend were having breakfast one morning prior to going fishing, when he felt nauseous, with a vague pressure in his chest. As he describes it “I was in… Read More
Is There a Doctor in the House?
Cheri Olson, M.D., La Crosse, WI – 51 at the time of the event (2008) Where is the best place to have a major medical emergency? In a hospital, where there is a plentiful supply of doctors and nurses. And so it was. Dr. Cheri Olson was seeing one of her more sprightly patients, Edna Athnos, and both will remember that consultation forever.… Read More
SCA Patient Survival Rates Double By Using ELS
July 11, 2008–When combined with the conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), extracorporeal life support (ELS) can double the survival of adult hospital patients in comparison with CPR alone. These results were released on July 7, 2008 in The Lancet. Myocardial infarction, or heart attack, occurs when blood flow to the beating heart is… Read More
A visit to the dentist saved his life.
Steve Doochin, Scarsdale, NY – 50 at time of event (2000) - now DECEASED Steve was more than the average type A personality, maybe even type AAA. Now, he feels more like a type A-. He was pushing the envelope of life and feeling a little clammy one June day in 2000, while at a CVS store getting the prescriptions for their kids’ summer camp. He… Read More