Staying Alive!( GENEVA Ohio May 29 -- A...),Health

GENEVA, Ohio, May 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A youth collapses at school...during a game...at camp. You hear small gasping, gurgly noises. Snorting, gurgling, moaning or labored breathing noises are often misinterpreted. Sometimes it looks like a seizure - but it's not. It's Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Don't lose precious time. What do you do now? Call for help, call 9-1-1, start doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) doing chest compressions to the beat of the Bee Gees' song "Staying Alive" and send someone to get the automated external defibrillator (AED) immediately. Does everyone know where the AED is? Can anyone get it at a moment's notice? You have 3-5 minutes to defibrillate that youth's heart before brain damage occurs; chance for survival decreases by 10% with every passing minute.

June 1-7 is National CPR and AED Awareness Week. Parent Heart Watch urges everyone to learn CPR and AED use and become better informed about the importance of having publicly accessible AEDs in schools, at sporting events and practices, and having on-site people trained in CPR and AED use who can promptly implement the vital links of the cardiac chain-of-survival: 1) Early recognition of SCA; 2) Early access to 911; 3) Early CPR; 4) Early defibrillation; and 5) Early advanced care. Survival rates from SCA can increase dramatically when these vital links are followed.

An AED is a medical device designed to quickly analyze the heart's rhythm and safely deliver an electric shock, if needed. An AED will not shock someone if the heart rhythm is not life-threatening. Most AEDs guide the user through the rescue process with simple audible and visual prompts.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of over 350,000 people each year; and thousands are youth. The incidence of SCA in youth is greatly underestimated as no national reporting system
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