Category Archives: CPR in the News

Hispanic Community

More CPR Training May Be Needed in Hispanic Neighborhoods

Having CPR performed by a bystander can double the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest. But a new study shows that you’re less likely to get help, and therefore less likely to survive, if your heart stops in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood.

The study, published Monday in the American Heart Association journal     Circulation, found the greater the percentage of Hispanic residents in a neighborhood, the lower the chances of receiving bystander CPR and the lower the chances of survival.

Specifically, it showed people who had a cardiac arrest in neighborhoods where at least half of the residents were Hispanic were 39% less likely to receive bystander CPR than those living in neighborhoods that were less than a quarter Hispanic. In neighborhoods where more than three-fourths of the residents were Hispanic, people in cardiac arrest were 40% less likely to receive bystander CPR – and 44% less likely to survive.

The study analyzed data from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in neighborhoods in Alabama; Dallas; Milwaukee; San Diego; Pittsburgh; Seattle; and Portland, Oregon, from 2011-2015.

“We know that bystander CPR improves your chances for survival,” said Audrey Blewer, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. “But in Hispanic neighborhoods, it’s not happening.”

More than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside hospitals each year, with 18.8% of those taking place in public settings. About 9 out of 10 people whose hearts stop outside a hospital die. But nearly 45% would survive if bystander CPR is administered, prior research shows.

Blewer said her study points to the need for greater CPR training in Hispanic communities, as well as a deeper look into why these disparities may exist.

The study didn’t delve into those reasons, but Marina Del Rios has some ideas.

To read those ideas and the rest of the article, visit the source: https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/12/30/bystander-cpr-less-common-in-hispanic-neighborhoods

life saver girl

Seven-Year-Old Learned CPR from YouTube, Saves Mom’s Life

This November, a seven-year-old British girl is credited with saving her mother’s life with CPR after learning how to perform the emergency procedure by watching videos on YouTube.

Jessica Kinder was home feeling sick and watching the holiday movie “The Grinch” when her mother, Becky Green, 32, suddenly collapsed and began having a seizure.

The young girl was quick to act, using her mother’s phone to call emergency officials, and quickly began CPR.

“I put a Christmas film on to make Jessica feel better and the last thing I remember is putting a cup of tea down for her, then I passed out,” Green recalled to South West News Service (SWNS), a British news agency. “When I woke up, the paramedics were here and my little girl was hysterical.”

The mom of two was rushed to a local hospital and was later diagnosed with epilepsy.

“When I realized what had happened I asked her, ‘How did you know what to do?’ She said to me, ‘I saw someone do it on YouTube.’  I couldn’t believe it,” added Green of Jessica, who now aspires to become a nurse or a doctor one day.

“She likes watching videos and I know that she takes things in quite well but I had no idea she had watched a video about CPR,” Green continued. “My little girl straddled me to do CPR because she thought I was dying. She knew she had to put all her weight on me from YouTube videos.”

You can learn CPR from an accredited source directly from the comfort of your own home. SimpleCPR.com has over 1,600 positive reviews. 

Read the full story at the source: https://www.foxnews.com/health/girl-saves-mom-cpr-youtube-videos

reese marlenee

Teen Survives Heart Attack and Urges Classmates to Learn CPR

Nearly nine months ago, first responders saved Reese Marlenee’s young life.

Last week, thankful to be alive, Marlenee welcomed rescuers to her high school to teach students the same lifesaving skills that saved hers.

“It’s important that everybody knows CPR, no matter how old they are,” said Marlenee, watching Valley Regional Fire Authority firefighters and paramedics teach teens the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 10-minute stations scattered over the gymnasium floor at Auburn Mountainview High School. “It’s important to learn how to do CPR, because I’m 16 and I had a heart attack. You can be 80 or you can be 1 (and) have a heart attack.”

The Nov. 27 heart-awareness event was Marlenee’s DECA class project, and her opportunity to give something back. The VRFA, as it does for communities throughout its jurisdiction, welcomed the invitation, and joined Marlenee to organize the program.

“For her to recover the way that she did and to have the ability and the maturity to put on an event like this speaks a lot about her character,” said VRFA Capt. Ryan Freed, who kept three morning sessions of work stations rotating on time. “It would be really hard for someone her age to be able to reflect back on something like that. It’s trauma, and to actually to put herself out there and be vulnerable for the betterment of fellow students says a lot about her.”

Marlenee has come a long way since March 5 when she collapsed poolside at water polo practice and went into cardiac arrest. Her coach, Jenni Pritchard, and the Auburn School District pool’s well-trained lifeguards quickly came to the fallen girl’s aid, called 911. and methodically performed two-person CPR until emergency personnel arrived within minutes to relieve them.

Medics rushed Marlenee to Tacoma’s Mary Bridge Hospital in 23 minutes.

Three days later, Marlenee underwent six hours of corrective surgery at Seattle Children’s hospital, where doctors discovered she had a heart defect, a condition called ALCAPA (anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery) syndrome. It is a rare, congenital coronary artery anomaly that may cause dangerously poor cardiac function.

“Without CPR, she most likely would not be with us today,” said her mother, Jessica.

This Sunday, with the help of medicine, and the strong support of family and friends, Marlenee celebrates her 17th birthday.

Read the full article here: https://www.auburn-reporter.com/news/without-missing-a-beat/