“Take Heart Anoka County” aims to save lives
A new community approach to saving lives is under way in Anoka County. Take Heart Anoka County, a coalition of doctors, nurses, paramedics, health educators, and community leaders aims to dramatically increase the likelihood of survival after sudden cardiac arrest by training more people in cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and placing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public places throughout the community. An estimated 350,000 people in the U.S. die from sudden cardiac arrest annually. The survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest is low — just five percent. If untreated, death results in as little as six minutes from the time of collapse, rarely enough time for emergency responders to arrive. By training more people in CPR and having more AEDs available in public places, the Take Heart Anoka County initiative hopes to increase survival rates.

Take Heart Anoka County has two grants available funded by the Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation to help train the public in CPR and AED use. The first allows people to buy a CPR Anytime kit for $10 (normally $30) that teaches CPR and AED use in less than an hour using a DVD and inflatable mannequin. If someone uses that kit to train at least three people in CPR and AED use, they get their $10 back. The other grant allows the purchase of a $2,000 AED and mounting cabinet for $400. If grant recipients show that the AED has been placed in a public location and at least 25 people have been trained in CPR and AED use, they get their $400 back.

Take Heart America™: A Community-based Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Initiative is Saving Lives by Implementing the Most Highly Recommended 2005 American Heart Association Resuscitation Guidelines

Author Block:
Keith Lurie, Advanced Circulatory Systems, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN; Janet Steinkamp, Central Minnesota Heart Center, St. Cloud, MN; Charles Lick, Allina Medical Transportation, St. Paul, MN; Tom Aufderheide, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI; Michael Sayre, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; Lynn White, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH; Edward Racht, Louis Gonzales, City of Austin / Travis County EMS System, Austin, TX; Susan Nygaard, Allina Health System, Minneapolis, MN; Robert Niskanen, Resurgent Biomedical Consulting LLC, Shoreline, WA

Abstract:
Introduction: Take Heart America (THA) is a community-based initiative intended to improve survival from sudden, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in four US communities: St. Cloud (MN), Anoka County (MN), Columbus (OH) and Austin (TX).

Hypothesis: Implementing a continuum of resuscitation care that includes the most highly recommended 2005 AHA resuscitation guidelines will improve survival from OHCA.

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Author Block: Keith Lurie, Pam Schnettler, Janet Steinkamp, Joe Hellie, Roberta Basol, Scott Davis, St. Cloud Hospital, St. Cloud, MN

Abstract:
Introduction/Hypothesis: Specialized care after cardiac arrest in Level One Cardiac Arrest Centers (L1CAC) may provide improved care in a cost-effective manner for this gravely ill patient population in an analogous manner to Level One Trauma Centers.

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Implementation of the 2005 American Heart Association Guidelines together with the impedance threshold device improves hospital discharge rates after in-hospital cardiac arrest

Scott Davis MD, Ken Thigpen RT, Roberta Basol RN, Tom Aufderheide MD

Background: Survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest (I-HCA) remains low, despite rapid care by trained medical personnel. An estimated 1,000 patients die each day in the United States alone from I-HCA.

Objective: Determine the impact of the 2005 American Heart Association (AHA) resuscitation guidelines and use of an impedance threshold device (ITD) on survival after I-HCA.

Hypothesis: Greater circulation delivered by combining more efficient and effective CPR together with an ITD, recommended in the 2005 AHA Guidelines to increase circulation and return of spontaneous circulation rates during CPR, will increase survival after I-HCA.

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Rex Veeder- St. Cloud, Minnesota- 60 years old at time of cardiac arrest. (2007)

Rex has been an educator for the majority of his professional life. He enjoys writing poetry and painting, and enjoys combining the two. When he finishes a painting he will often write a poem over the painting to create a unique work of art.

On June 28, 2007, Rex came home from visiting friends with his wife, Marcia. He told her that he was feeling unusually tired, and that he had never felt this tired in the past. Rex went straight to bed.

While he was in bed, Marcia saw that Rex was turning blue. Rex had suffered a cardiac arrest and, with his heart no longer beating, his body was taking its final, gasping breaths. Marcia immediately began CPR and continued until paramedics arrived.

Rex was rushed to St. Cloud Hospital, where his body was cooled to about 91° F, which doctors have found can prevent swelling of the brain. Cooling is one of the therapies that has been incorporated into the “Take Heart America” program (www.takeheartamerica.org) that Rex was fortunate to be part of. Fortunate because, in less than 2 weeks, Rex made a full neurological recovery and was ready to go back to work.

Today Rex is the Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at Central Lake College in Brainerd, Minnesota. He maintains a healthy lifestyle for the body and mind by doing daily exercises, reading, painting and writing poetry. He looks forward to family reunions and some upcoming 80th birthdays within the family.

Rex, who has five children and four grandchildren says, “I was profoundly moved by the care I was given by my doctors. I have a great reverence for their profession.”

Dawn Blake- Andover, MN- 32 years old at time of cardiac arrest (2006)

Dawn is a 36 year old mother of two from Andover, MN. Two days before her 33rd birthday, Dawn came home from work, ate dinner and went to bed as if it were any other day. Around midnight that night she woke up with an uncomfortable back pain and had trouble falling back asleep. She told her husband, Mike, that she was going to go downstairs and lie on the couch because she was not feeling well. About 20 minutes later, Mike heard a noise and came downstairs to investigate. He approached her to ask about the noise and found her unresponsive. Dawn had gone into cardiac arrest. Mike, who is an EMT, administered CPR and called 911. Within 3 minutes the Sheriff’s Department shocked Dawn’s heart with an AED. About 2 minutes later the paramedics arrived and continued CPR with the ResQPOD for about 35 minutes, and shocked her heart a total of five times. Dawn was then stabilized and brought to the hospital. Mike Blake, being a seasoned EMT, did not expect Dawn to wake up; however, as he was coming down the hall of the ICU he heard Dawn talking to her mother and could not believe it.

Today Dawn is doing great and she looks forward to the opportunity of watching her children grow up.