6 stories to celebrate National CPR Awareness Month

The Mount Sinai Health System is encouraging the public to learn to save a life through CPR training in honor of National CPR Awareness Month.

With a focus on students, the Mount Sinai Health System aims to educate the community on sudden cardiac arrest and the use of automated external defibrillators in case of an emergency.

“Mount Sinai's CPR Awareness Fairs are very important to show adults and school children alike how they can save a life during an emergency when armed with the proper knowledge and skills," Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, senior vice president of cardiac services for the Mount Sinai Health System, said in a press release. "If CPR and/or AED is used within minutes to resuscitate a person who experiences a [sudden cardiac arrest], it may help save their life.”

To raise awareness, Cardiology Today has compiled a list of six stories focusing on sudden cardiac arrest, CPR and AED use.

Low calcium levels linked to risk for sudden cardiac arrest

Lower serum calcium levels were associated with a significant increased risk for sudden cardiac arrest, new data show.

“It is estimated that approximately 300,000 individuals die of sudden cardiac arrest annually in the United States,” Sumeet S. Chugh, MD, medical director of the Heart Rhythm Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, and colleagues wrote. “However, more than half of men and close to 70% of women who die of [sudden cardiac arrest] have no clinical history of heart disease before their cardiac arrest. Hence, it is important to identify other risk factors and mediators for [sudden cardiac arrest] to improve risk stratification and preventive strategies in the general population.”

Public health initiatives improve bystander response for cardiac arrest

Public health initiatives focusing on CPR and first-responder training were associated with increases in bystander-initiated CPR and defibrillation and increased survival, study data show.

“Little is known about the influence of public health initiatives, including widespread training of laypersons in CPR and first responders in high-performance CPR and automated external defibrillator use, to improve bystander and first-responder resuscitation efforts in patients who experience at-home cardiac arrest,” Christopher B. Fordyce, MD, MHS, MSc, of the division of cardiology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues wrote. “In fact, there are concerns that expanded CPR training may not correct the large fraction of cardiac arrests that occur at home.”

CPR use, survival rates low after cardiac arrest in black neighborhoods

Adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were less likely to receive bystander treatment and had lower survival if the event occurred in a predominately black neighborhood, according to published findings.

“Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rate is 8.3% to 10% annually; however, there is regional variation in the incidence of and survival from OHCA,” Monique Anderson Starks, MD, MHS, of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and colleagues wrote. “The incidence of OHCA has been consistently higher in black individuals compared with white individuals in the United States. Notable disparities exist in CPR training and the use of bystander CPR in predominantly black vs. white communities.”

AHA installs CPR training kiosks at 3 US airports

The American Heart Association announced it has established hands-only CPR training kiosks at three U.S. airports to help travelers learn to save lives.

Hands-only CPR has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest that occurs in the public and can double or triple a person’s chance of survival, according to the release.

Survival rates after in-hospital cardiac arrest improve for black patients

The rate of survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest improved over time, especially in black patients, reducing racial differences, according to a study published in JAMA Cardiology.

Lee Joseph, MD, MS, of the division of cardiovascular diseases at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, and colleagues reviewed data from 112,139 patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest who received CPR from 2000 to 2014. The group comprised black (n = 30,241; mean age, 62 years) and white patients (n = 81,898; mean age, 68 years).

Heart rate spikes observed in hockey spectators during live games

Watching professional hockey significantly elevated the heart rates of viewers and could potentially raise the risk for CV events, according to new data published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

“Our analysis of elements of the hockey game associated with peak heart rates supports the notion that it is not the outcome of the game that primarily determines the intensity of the emotional stress response, but rather the excitement experienced while viewing high-stakes or high-intensity portions of the game,” Paul Khairy, MD, PhD, from the Montreal Heart Institute at the University of Montreal, and colleagues wrote. “Importantly, we identified the ambience of a live game as contributing substantially to the intensity of the cardiovascular stress response, yielding a much greater increase in heart rate compared with televised games.”