Together We Will!
While thousands of youth are lost each year when their heart suddenly stops beating, most people are unaware of what sudden cardiac arrest even is, much less that it happens to seemingly healthy youth. But Damar Hamlin’s nationally televised cardiac event during an NFL playoff game earlier this year was a startling wake-up call to this shocking reality that has parents nationwide now wondering if their child is at risk and has schools and teams struggling to be prepared to respond.
Parent Heart Watch, the national voice of sudden cardiac arrest prevention in youth, has long recognized the critical need to protect young hearts where they live, learn and play. Since 2017, it’s successful Get Charged Up! program has armed youth communities with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and cardiac emergency response plans (CERPs) so survival stories like Damar Hamlin’s aren’t just afforded to professional athletes who benefit from a surplus of resources that are invested in player safety. Every young person deserves the same chance of survival, which is why Get Charged Up! focuses on serving schools, community sports and youth programs.
The goals of the program are to model the importance of AEDs and CERPs to prevent sudden cardiac death by readying administrators, educators, school nurses, coaches, counselors, and parents to the role they can play to champion prevention in their community. Parent Heart Watch does not simply place an AED. Schools and youth sport groups must complete our Get Charged Up! program which walks them through the CERP, provides opportunities for CPR/AED training and certifications through partners, and builds confidence in their response should a SCA take place.
In high schools alone, the American College of Cardiology cites a study that determined 2 in 50 schools can expect a sudden cardiac arrest event each year. Schools with cardiac emergency response programs have shown survival rates of students in sudden cardiac arrest ranged from 64 to 72 percent. This is a far cry from the national survival rate average of ~10%.
Unlike other public health crises that are still searching for solutions to remedy disease, we have the tools and ability RIGHT NOW to prevent sudden cardiac arrest from taking one more young life. Saving a life from sudden cardiac arrest is something everyone can be prepared for, yet polls show that 75% - 79% are more confident responding to a natural disaster, using a fire extinguisher or performing the Heimlich maneuver, with only 37% saying they feel confident using an AED. This accounts for why the AHA reports that ~ 2% of SCA victims receive a shock before EMS arrive (which drops to 1.4% for youth). This has a life-altering impact given the AHA also reports bystander CPR can triple the chance of survival and that 9 in 10 SCA victims survive when they receive a shock in the first minute after collapse. That’s only possible if there is a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP) in place.
Bystanders must be educated and empowered to provide immediate intervention for an SCA victim, because for every minute’s delay survival drops by 10% and average arrival times for emergency responders is six to 12 minutes. You don’t need to be a trained professional—you just need to Call Push Shock™ Call: Call 911; Push: Start hands-only CPR; Shock; Use an AED.
Saving the lives of our youth will take us all working together, but we believe that Together We Will!