Feature | June 11, 2007

Three years ago Judy Sudmeier was talking on the telephone at work when, without warning, her heart stopped beating. Stopped dead. But, unlike hundreds of thousands of victims of
sudden cardiac arrest, Judy didn't die.
A registered nurse working in a clinical environment, Judy was fortunate enough to be
surrounded by medical professionals who acted quickly, resuscitated her and saved her life. Today, she's more than just thankful to be alive — she has become a spokesperson for the newly launched Sudden Cardiac Arrest Coalition, which was announced May 10 in Denver during the Heart Rhythm Society's Annual Scientific Sessions.
The Coalition asserts that the nation is overdue for an urgent, federally driven offense against the disease that claims more lives each year in the U.S. than breast cancer, lung cancer, stroke or AIDS combined — more than 250,000. And so, more than 25 leading heart advocacy groups have banded together around one central mission: To urge Congress and federal agencies involved in national health policies and programs to devote more resources to improving public awareness of SCA and increasing research and access to life-saving therapies.
Critical care clinicians know what most of the American public does not: SCA is not the same as a heart attack. Unlike a heart attack's “plumbing” origin of coronary artery blockage that interrupts the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart, SCA is an electrical short-circuiting of the heart, in which, for reasons largely still unknown, the heart muscle abruptly and
without warning ceases to beat, and hence to pump blood to the rest of the body.
I'm pleased to see the names of so many organizations that have committed their support to the Coalition, and pleasantly surprised that on a list predominantly comprised of heart-focused societies, foundations and corporations, the National Association of EMS Physicians is also included. I hope more critical care professional groups will examine the goals of this new Coalition and join its numbers, too, so that the federal government will recognize its responsibility to allocate or perhaps re-channel resources to actively combat SCA.
Despite the widespread lack of public understanding about SCA, as well as the shortfalls in availability and comprehension about using automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), Americans indicated in the Coalition's national public survey their
anxiety about the deadly event of SCA and voiced overwhelming support for increases in awareness as well as research and treatments. What the public does understand is that when this sudden, silent killer strikes, odds of survival are frighteningly slim — about 95 percent of all SCA victims die because they don’t receive life-saving defibrillation within four to six minutes, before brain and permanent death start to occur, according to the Coalition.
Judy Sudmeier was lucky. A fellow on a racquetball court at my local health club last year was not, and so many more like him are being snatched away, Judy says, “before their time.” In the very near future I hope more acute-care providers — the life-savers of the critically ill and injured — will also participate in this critical effort to save the seemingly healthy.
Here's the choice I see for many more medical societies: (1) Disregard the SCA battle because it's too remote or unrelated to their medical specialty, or (2) Learn more, fight back and help tip the scale on those disheartening statistics.
Thanks for reading.


Related Content

Videos | Information Technology

Industry trade shows and conferences seem to be making their comeback in 2024. And the Healthcare Information and ...

Time July 25, 2024
arrow
News | RSNA

July 23, 2024 — Professional registration is open for RSNA 2024, the world’s largest radiology forum. This year’s theme ...

Time July 23, 2024
arrow
News | Enterprise Imaging

June 28, 2024 — Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas announced today a strategic partnership with Apollo Enterprise ...

Time June 28, 2024
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

June 27, 2024 — RamSoft, a global leader in cloud-based RIS/PACS radiology solutions, and RADPAIR, a trailblazer in ...

Time June 27, 2024
arrow
News | Information Technology

June 21, 2024 — Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas announced a strategic partnership with Comp-Ray, Inc., a Christie ...

Time June 21, 2024
arrow
Feature | Information Technology | By Melinda Taschetta-Millane

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Global Health Conference and Exhibition brought ...

Time May 01, 2024
arrow
Feature | Information Technology | By Jef Williams

The rapid growth of healthcare data has reached unprecedented heights, making up about 30% of the world’s stored data.¹ ...

Time April 30, 2024
arrow
News | Society of Breast Imaging (SBI)

April 11, 2024 — iCAD, Inc., a global leader in clinically proven AI-powered cancer detection solutions, announced today ...

Time April 11, 2024
arrow
News | Enterprise Imaging

March 12, 2024 — Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas, Inc. announced today the new integration of the Exa Platform with ...

Time March 12, 2024
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

February 26, 2024 — DeepHealth, Inc., one of the leading providers in healthcare radiology informatics, has today ...

Time February 26, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now