PALS Tag

15 Feb Signs of cardiac arrest can appear weeks before event

Posted at 22:59h in Uncategorized

Sue Chlebek was on her regular three-mile walk with a friend one spring morning when she told her companion she was so short of breath, she must be dominating the conversation. About two hours later, she went into sudden cardiac arrest just seconds after arriving at a hospital emergency room. Doctors shocked her heart back into rhythm with a defibrillator and then deployed a stent to open a blocked artery. Some 1,000 Americans a day suffer sudden cardiac arrest, a catastrophic event...

02 Feb VIDEO GAMES HELP DOCTORS DIAGNOSE SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST

Posted at 16:47h in Uncategorized

In a world first, doctors at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute have used computer gaming technology to help better diagnose patients suffering from a heart rhythm disease. This life threatening, electrical disorder kills hundreds of thousands of Americans every year by stopping the heart from pumping blood effectively – causing sudden death. Read More...

06 Jan Teen revived after heart stops during basketball game

Posted at 21:15h in Uncategorized

WALNUT CREEK, Calif -- A middle school student was recovering after a weekend basketball game nearly turned tragic, when he into apparent cardiac arrest. City officials and the boys' coach credited the presence of an automated external defibrillator with saving the 14-year-old's life after he collapsed near midcourt 90 seconds into the second half of a CYO game at the Tice Valley Community Gym on Saturday. "He was running down the court, and just before he got to midcourt, his knees buckled...

10 Jun Florida Man’s Invention Designed to Make CPR Easier

Posted at 16:05h in Uncategorized

NAPLES — The idea came from a broom handle and plunger. Now, part-time Naples resident Joe Hanson has federal approval to market his new CPR device that makes chest compressions easy for cardiopulmonary resuscitation on adults, including audio that times the procedure. Dr. Robert Tober, emergency medical services director in Collier County, has been helping Hanson with his invention, called CPR RsQ Assist, to make it a must-have piece of equipment for performing hands-only CPR. “The device is self-prompting and virtually foolproof,” Tober...

10 Apr Bill Would Make CPR Training a School Requirement

Posted at 01:19h in Uncategorized

A bill at the South Carolina State House could make places you go a bit safer. The legislation would make learning Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, CPR, and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator, AED, a requirement in order for students to graduate. The training could help in responding to a cardiac arrest. Sen. Gerald Malloy, the bill's sponsor says it could increase a person's chance of survival with more people who are trained. "I think an educated community is always better and I think that...

17 Mar Important heart disease health lessons from the collapse of NHL player Rich Peverley

Posted at 01:36h in Uncategorized

by John Mandrola, MD Last night my Twitter stream lit up with the news that NHL player Rich Peverley collapsed from a heart arrhythmia. Fortunately, he was successfully treated, and is reported to be in good condition. Here is a link to the best story I could find. It sounds awfully significant. [Dr.] Salazar said of the treatment, “We provided oxygen for him. We started an IV. We did chest compressions on him and defibrillated him, provided some electricity to bring a rhythm back to his...

21 Feb Implanted cardiac monitor identifies stroke risk better than traditional methods

Posted at 00:50h in Uncategorized

A cardiac monitor about the size of a USB flash drive that’s implanted under the skin was six to seven times more likely to detect atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm that’s a risk factor for stroke, according to a science report presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014. The monitor could help identify the 30 percent of ischemic strokes with no apparent cause. Ischemic strokes are caused by a clot in a blood vessel in or near the brain. “Atrial fibrillation can...

12 Jan Prolonged Bystander CPR Makes the Difference in Airport Cardiac Arrest

Posted at 02:50h in Uncategorized

On Aug. 22, 2013, Sue Hostler arrives at the Philadelphia International Airport to catch a flight home. A frequent business traveler, she knows her way around the airport and runs to get on an elevator in a remote area of Terminal F, which is used for commuter flights. A young man reaches and enters the elevator just before her, and the doors close before she can join him. When Hostler hits the “up” button a few seconds later, the doors reopen and...

14 Dec Many men with sudden cardiac arrest had early warnings

Posted at 18:46h in Uncategorized

Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY Many sudden cardiac arrests leave a calling card in advance. More than half of middle-aged men who experienced sudden cardiac arrests had symptoms up to a month beforehand, a new study shows. Most of the symptoms — including chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, faintness or heart palpitations — occurred four weeks to one hour before their hearts suddenly stopped, according to the research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Dallas. Read more...

26 Nov Mechanical compression devices do not improve survival rates, study says

Posted at 00:56h in Uncategorized

Sten Rubertsson, M.D., Ph.D., of Uppsala University, Sweden and colleagues assessed whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in which chest compressions are delivered with a mechanical device would result in superior 4-hour survival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared to CPR with manual chest compression. This multicenter clinical trial, which included 2,589 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, was conducted between January 2008 and February 2013 in 4 Swedish, 1 British, and 1 Dutch ambulance services and their referring hospitals. Four-hour survival was achieved...