Raising Awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Raising Awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
As part of the technical assistance and capacity building objective of the Health Leadership Institute for Faith-based Organizations, the Center of Closing the Health Gap in Greater Cincinnati in conjunction with Christ Hospital presented “Raising Awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest” at the Christ Hospital. The Health Leadership Institute for Faith-Based Organizations is a program funded by the WellPoint Foundation to assist faith-based organizations in creating and enhancing Health and Wellness Ministries. This was the Center’s first collaborative venture with Christ Hospital. The Center is looking forward to many more opportunities to bring the hospital and the community together to address issues of mutual concern. The program provided information on sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and Christ Hospital’s Project Heart Restart. The seminar presenters were Jay Schloss, M.D., medical director of electrophysiology at Christ Hospital and Mark Johnston, coordinator of Project Heart Restart.
The Mission of Project Heart ReStart is to raise public awareness of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs ) in order to create a heart safe community with the ultimate goal of saving lives in Greater Cincinnati. Unlike a heart attack, SCA strikes suddenly and many people who experience SCA have no history of heart disease. Participants of the Health Leadership Institute who are champions of Health and Wellness in their organizations learned that it is important to have an AED at their facility because it often takes several minutes before an ambulance can arrive on the scene and there is a "golden window" of 3-8 minutes in which a patient can be saved. By having an AED readily available, many lives can be saved. It is estimated that in the Cincinnati region alone, twelve hundred deaths occur each year due to SCA.
What is SCA?
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is an abrupt loss of heart function. It can be caused by all cardiac diseases. An attack occurs when the electrical impulses that control the heartbeat become rapid and chaotic. This causes the lower part of the heart to quiver instead of contract and blood can no longer flow to the rest of the body.
SCA is not the same as a heart attack. A heart attack is caused by a blockage in a blood vessel that stops the flow of blood to the heart. If the heart was a car, SCA would be considered a battery problem and a heart attack would be a fuel line issue.
If the flow of blood does not supply the brain with oxygen, the victim will lose consciousness in seconds. Unless emergency shock is applied to restore the heart's normal functions, the victim will die in a matter of minutes.
What is an AED?
An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a portable device used to restore the heart's normal rhythm during an SCA attack. An AED can detect an irregular heart rhythm and determine if defibrillating shock is required.
The electric shock from an AED stops the heartbeat long enough to re-establish the correct rhythm. An AED will not shock a person with a normal rhythm, which means anyone can safely operate an AED device without specialized training.
Thirteen churches were represented by the seminar participants all were members of the Health Leadership Institute for Faith-based Organizations. After the presentation a drawing was held and three churches won an automated external defibrillator AED a value of $1800 each. Project Heart Restart will install the AED at the churches and train congregants on how to use the machine.
The Center for Closing the Health Gap is focused on prevention and is attempting to combat these issues through embracing the transformation of health at the community level. We are committed to eliminating diseases so that treatment or therapy is not needed.
For more information about the Health Leadership Institute for Faith-Based Organizations and our prevention efforts, please contact the Center at 513-585-9872 or visit our websites at www.closingthehealthgap.org and www.dorightcincy.org.
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