By Paul Levy, Star Tribune, June 2, 2009

Can one woman single-handedly save Anoka County?

Rather than try, Peggy McNabb has recruited 1,200 helpers.

McNabb, an Anoka County Human Services administrator, is responsible for the distribution of 1,200 CPR kits to Anoka County employees and their families and associates, said Jerry Soma, manager of the county’s Human Services Division.

Last summer, Dr. Charles Lick, co-founder of Take Heart Minnesota and medical director of Allina Medical Transportation, spoke to county officials about the importance of CPR training programs for employees.

Learning about cardiopulmonary resuscitation wasn’t a hard sell.

“We were very impressed and decided immediately that we would spearhead a campaign to get people into CPR training,” Soma said.

“When I say ‘we,’ I’m really talking about Peggy McNabb.”

That was in July. By August, McNabb was handing out training kits to 36 people.

“It wasn’t just me,” McNabb said. “It was the employees who left that first meeting who wanted to train the staff.”

McNabb says she merely played bookkeeper while others learned about CPR and then passed on their knowledge and kits. But Soma says McNabb’s being modest. She sent out e-mail after e-mail, sometimes under Soma’s name, explaining that if someone trains three people, the $10 Allina CPR kit would be free.

So employees trained family members and others, and the kits kept coming.

The campaign is winding down now, McNabb says. Interest in CPR hasn’t waned. It’s just that there aren’t many county employees she hasn’t already contacted, Soma said.

“The kits have gone to churches, to book clubs, to neighborhoods,” McNabb said. “My part in this was small. It’s everyone else who did the work.”

Grant applications are due December 10th.

Through a grant funded by Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation, Take Heart Anoka offers two programs available to anyone living in the Mercy or Unity service areas: the CPR Anytime package and the AED package.

Employees are encouraged to apply on behalf of community organizations, churches or service clubs, or share the information with family and friends. The deadline for the next round of grants is December 10th. The simple, seven-step application is available here.

Take Heart Anoka County is funded by grants from the Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation and administered by Allina Community Benefit and Allina Medical Transportation. For more information, visit takeheartanoka.org or call 651-228-8470.

from The Annandale Advocate, by Chuck Sterling

Tim Hinz of South Haven probably couldn’t have picked a better place for his heart to stop pumping.

The 37-year-old family man went into sudden cardiac arrest in the Buffalo Clinic parking lot, which is attached to Buffalo Hospital, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, while helping a friend start a stalled car.

Within minutes numerous emergency workers were at his side giving lifesaving shocks with an automated external defibrillator and administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Hinz lived to tell about it Wednesday, Feb. 18, at a ceremony in the hospital to recognize 10 people who helped save his life.

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Americans who suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital have a dismal survival rate of 1% to 3%. But Minnesota residents might have a better chance  of surviving SCA.

The North Star State is on the cutting edge of the quest to boost survival rates with cardiac arrest centers, cooling devices, and community CPR initiatives.

Specialized facilities such as trauma, burn, and stroke centers improve outcomes by delivering standardized care to patients. Now hospitals are applying those lessons to SCA patients. According to Take Heart America, an estimated 300,000 Americans die each year from SCA — more than from car accidents, firearms, house fires, AIDS, and breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer combined.

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“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 Anoka and Twin Cities Public Television bring sudden cardiac arrest, CPR and AED awareness to the public.

Click the play button to watch this short yet fascinating video. You too, can help save a life!

If you are unable to view the YouTube video, please click here.

Take Heart Anoka and TPT team to bring Sudden Cardiac Arrest, CPR and AED Awareness to the public.

“We’re calling it the world premiere,” says Allina emergency room doc, Charles Lick, MD of the Twin Cities Public Television’s “No Fear CPR: Take Action, Save Lives” to be broadcast this Saturday night. “This is a fast-paced half hour that explains what sudden cardiac arrest, the number one killer in America, really is and how spending just a few minutes learning CPR and how to use an AED can make anyone into a life-saver.”

“No Fear CPR: Take Action, Save Lives” will air on TPT 17 this Saturday, September 27 at 9 P.M. and again on Sunday, October 19 at 7:30 P.M. The program was produced by TPT in conjunction with the Take Heart Anoka County program, funded by grants from the Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation and administered by Allina Community Benefit and Allina Medical Transportation.

“A key part of Take Heart Anoka County is public awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest, and how dismal survival rates can be dramatically improved when people learn CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED),” says Lick. “That’s why we’ve put so much effort into this production. We’ll make this program into DVDs to place with schools, businesses and clubs and also put on the internet.”

Lick says the other important thing for people to know is that Take Heart Anoka County has two grant programs. “The first grant is for people to buy a CPR Anytime kit for $10, normally $30. It’s a learn-CPR-at-home product that teaches CPR and AED use in less than an hour with a DVD and inflatable mannequin,” Lick says. “If they use that kit and train at least three people in CPR and AED use, they get their $10 back.”

The other grant allows the purchase of a $2000 AED and mounting cabinet for $400. If grant winners 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.

Grant application is available here. The grants are available to anyone living in the Mercy and Unity Hospitals service area.

MINNEAPOLIS — (August 15, 2008) – More than 100 workers with Canadian Pacific Railway were trained on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) this summer by Take Heart Anoka County.

Nyle Zikmund, chief of the Spring Lake Park, Blaine Mounds View Fire Corps, brought the Anytime CPR Program to the attention of his department. Mike Erko, who is a member of the Fire Corps and works for Canadian Pacific Railway, saw an opportunity to take the program back to his coworkers at the railroad.

“The Railroad workers reacted very favorably and we had a high participation rate,” said Erko. “The feedback from workers and managers who attended was all good.”

Training consisted of an explanation of the program and of the Fire Corps. Then, participants watched a DVD about CPR and had some hands-on work with manikins.

Erko says the Fire Corps plans on with more training in the future. “The SBM Fire Corps would like to see all of Anoka County well equipped to save lives and enhance the quality of our own lives as well as residents of our community,” he said.

Through a grant funded by Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation, Take Heart Anoka County is giving the north metro community an opportunity to apply for two life-saving training opportunities: the CPR Anytime package and the AED package. The applications are open to community organizations, groups, schools, churches or businesses within Take Heart Anoka County area.

The CPR Anytime package contains five to 60 CPR Anytime kits. Each kit includes a mini CPR manikin, a CPR skills practice DVD, American Heart Association CPR for family and friends booklet, and a mini Anne spare lung. The package also includes a one-hour train-the-trainer CPR session. Applicants must train a minimum of 3 individuals for every kit received and there must be a deposit of $10 for each kit. The deposit is refundable when the required people have been trained.

The AED Package includes the brand of choice AED; preparedness kit and wall mount storage cabinet. Take Heart staff lead an orientation session to determine which AED is most appropriate for the site and AED training. The AED Package requires a $400 deposit that is refundable when applicants conduct CPR training of at least 25 people per site.

To apply for a grant, submit a completed Take Heart Anoka County grant application by email or mail by Aug 29, 2008. The application form can be found at www.takeheartanoka.org. Funding decisions and notification will be made within 30 days of the application deadline.

Take Heart Anoka County takes new approach to save lives

COON RAPIDS, MN

Minn. — (March 19, 2008) — Take Heart Anoka County is a coalition of doctors, nurses, paramedics, health educators, and community leaders. They are joining together in an effort to dramatically increase the likelihood that someone who suffers sudden cardiac arrest will survive. It’s estimated that 350,000 people in the U.S. die from sudden cardiac arrest every year.

“Sudden cardiac arrest, sometimes known as a massive heart attack, is a top killer that can strike anyone, anywhere, without warning. Only one in 20 people survives. We think we can increase those odds to one in three,” said Charles Lick, M.D., co-founder of Take Heart Anoka County. Dr. Lick is also an emergency medicine specialist and medical director of Allina Medical Transportation.

Take Heart Anoka County received its initial funding from the Mercy & Unity Hospitals’ Foundation. “The Foundation is very pleased to play a part in such an important community activity. The entire Foundation Board saw this as an opportunity to save lives in the communities we serve,” said Julie Nelson Gotham, executive director of the Mercy & Unity Hospitals’ Foundation.

Take Heart Anoka County plans to increase the number of people trained in CPR, increase the number of publicly available automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, and train people to use them. Doctors, hospital staff and paramedics will be trained on advanced resuscitation techniques, including use of special resuscitation devices and rapid cooling of people who have suffered cardiac arrest to prevent brain damage.

Individuals, organizations and businesses that want more information can call Susan Nygaard at 612-262-4946 or look at the website: www.takeheartanoka.org.

“Take Heart America takes approaches that individually have been shown to increase a person’s chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest and combines them in the hope of dramatically increasing the number of people who survive,” said Keith Lurie, M.D., co-founder of Take Heart America.

Three other communities have signed on for Take Heart America: Austin-Travis County, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and St. Cloud, Minn. After an evaluation period, the program plans to apply its findings on a national basis.

Mercy and Unity Hospitals, located in Coon Rapids and Fridley, are non-profit hospitals that serve the northern Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Mercy and Unity respond to a wide range of health care needs. The hospitals are part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a not-for-profit family of hospitals, clinics and other care services dedicated to meeting the lifelong health care needs of communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. More information is at www.allina.com.