Contact: Debra Thompson
Director, RMH Corporate Communications
540-564-5886
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Alec Steinmetz of Cardiac Science demonstrates how to use an AED at a May 5 ceremony at which RMH donated and distributed seven of the devices to local schools and community centers.
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RMH Heart and Vascular Services has donated life-saving automated external defibrillators (AEDs)—devices used to restart the heart in the event of cardiac arrest—to four local schools and three community centers.
AEDs are used in conjunction with CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) to help restore a heartbeat in someone who has suffered sudden cardiac arrest. The devices allow a person to administer immediate lifesaving treatment, which is particularly important in sudden cardiac arrest.
“In the event of cardiac failure, time is of the essence in order to save the heart muscle,” said Dave Grembi, RMH Heart & Vascular Center director, at a May 5 presentation ceremony. “Placing AEDs in our community will save lives. The mission of RMH is to improve the health of our community. I am delighted that our Heart & Vascular Center is able to support this mission by offering this level of collaborative effort and partnership with organizations in our community.”
RMH is the first hospital in Virginia, and second in the nation, to donate AEDs as part of the HeartSafe program, a collaboration between medical vendors St. Jude Medical, maker of medical technology including ICDs (implantable cardioverter defibrillators), and Cardiac Science, a global leader in AED technologies, Grembi said. The HeartSafe program works with hospitals to place AEDs in communities and promote community education on sudden cardiac arrest.
Recipient organizations are Harrisonburg Community Health Center, Elkton Community Center, the Lucy Simms Center, Fulks Run Elementary School, Wilbur S. Pence Middle School, J. Frank Hillyard Middle School and Harrisonburg High School (Athletic Fields).
Staff from the receiving facilities learned how to use the devices after the presentation ceremony. Tina Pangle, LPN, a school nurse at Fulks Run Elementary, said having an AED in her school will provide a valuable safety net, particularly given the school’s remote location.
“We are in between two rescue squads,” Pangle said. “Response time for the closest one is 10 minutes at a minimum. For the second squad, it’s up to 20 minutes. There are a lot of events at the school, on evenings and weekends. This is a good thing, not only for the kids, but for the community.”
Speakers at the presentation ceremony included Harrisonburg cardiologist Stewart Pollock, who explained that sudden cardiac arrest results from a disruption in the electrical rhythm of the heart chambers that can only be fixed by applying an electrical shock, such as that delivered by an AED.
“Sudden cardiac arrest must be treated within minutes,” Pollock said. “Putting AEDs in the hands of our frontline responders is really worthwhile, because it can save lives.”
Also speaking was pediatrician Frank Gearing, MD, who suffered a heart attack in 2008 while on vacation and was rescued by someone using an AED.
“I had no cardiac risk factors,” Dr. Gearing said. “Yet on March 27 of last year, I was playing tennis and suddenly felt queasy. I told my wife, ‘Bring me an aspirin and get the car keys.’ Within five minutes of arriving at a health clinic near where he and his wife were staying, he had an EKG, which showed he was having a heart attack. His heart went into an abnormal rhythm.
“An AED converted my heart rhythm into a normal rhythm,” Gearing continued. “From there I was transported [to a nearby hospital] and within an hour I had a catheterization to put in a stent and open the artery. Two hours later I felt fine. I am the poster child. An AED saved my life.”