Right now in Nashville, the survival rate for people who suffer cardiac arrest is only 8%. While that's around the national average, PAD Programs in other cities do save more lives raising survival rates as high as 50%
Here are some recent stories of survival, we hope to add many more.
Roger Harvey: Saved in August 2006
(Harvey (left) shakes hands with one of his rescuers, Dr. Tullio Emmanulele (right))
Roger Harvey had just returned from a trip to California and was headed to baggage pick up when he began to feel nauseaus.
"I looked at the sign for baggage pickup, then turned to head to the bathroom because I felt like I might be sick and that’s when I passed out."
Bonnie Collier, a nurse at Centennial Women’s Hospital didn’t see Harvey collapse but when her husband did.
"I could tell he was going into arrest, so when I felt his pusle going away I initiated CPR," Collier said. She began to yell for help and directed family members to look along the walls for an AED. Dr. Tullio Emmanulele arrived with an AED. The Kentucky cardiologist had worked plenty of resuscitations, but this is the first time he had used an automated external defibrillator.
"The AED was simple to put on. When it advised a shock on the patient, I pushed the button, and if worked perfectly," said Emmanuele.
"I’m was a little sore from them pressing on my chest, but I remember waking up with people shouting at me," said Harvey. "I was trying to catch my breath, it was like trying to breathe under water. But those people and that device saved my life. I am very grateful."
Dean Whitehead saved on July 4, 2006
(Dean Whitehead (right) is ready to run the Christie Cookie 5K run in September 2006. He stands with Melissa Hauck (left) the first responder to his side when he collapsed)
Butch Lanier and Melissa Hauck, RN, both with a health education team from St. Thomas, had been manning a booth at the Firecracker 5K run at the Maryland Farms YMCA. A runner came to them about a "man down" so both sprinted to the rescue, while another team member, Terri Daniels, went to get an AED.
Dean Whitehead, an avid runner, who had just finished the race, was in cardiac arrest.
"He really looked dead," said Hauck. "I did the chest compressions initially after Butch established the airway. I was relieved by a nurse practitioner who had also run in the race, Larry Crockett. He continued compressions."
The YMCA has an AED, but before Terri Daniel could return with the center's device, an ambulance crew that had been nearby arrived with their defibrillator.
"I applied monitor electrodes and Defibrillator patches," said Hauck. " a couple of physicians stepped in, Dr. Walter Claire and Dr. Kenneth Petroni. Dr. Clair ordered the shocks to be delivered. We did establish a regular rhythm before his transfer."
"The Lord just put them in the right place at the right time," said Whitehead, a former firefighter who had just celebrated his 68 th birthday that day.
Whitehead was running 5Ks again within 2 months.
Les Keller, saved on May 26, 2006
(Les Keller (Center) is shown with two nurses who helped revive him, Shawnee Brenkman (left) and Lesley Coots (right) )
Les Keller was playing his favorite sport, ice hockey, but hadn't been feeling too well. As his second game of the day began to the Centennial Sportsplex, Keller collapsed. When people called for help, Shawnee Brenkman, RN and her friend Lesley Coote, RN both ran to help.
"I asked if anyone knew where an AED was, and Sportsplex gentleman had one to us within 2 minutes."
As Brenkman, her father, Gary and Coote performed CPR on Keller, Matt Oberbreckling retrieved the AED that had only been in place for a few months. One shock was all it took to start Keller's heart beating again.
Les has made a full recovery and publicly thanked the four people that saved his life with an AED at a Nashville Fire Department awards ceremony.
"Had this happened any other time or place, I wouldn't be here," Keller said.
Kelley Swift: Saved March 2006
(Shown here at right with Robert Jemison)
Kelley Swift coaches 5th and 6th grade football at Harding Academy. During a spring football clinic Coach Swift lapsed into a fatal heart rhythm and fell to the ground. Technically, Swift had died.
For perhaps three minutes, parents Dr. Don Griffin and Susan Ramsey performed CPR on Swift, until someone brought the automated external defibrillator (AED) from the school's gym and gave it to Harding Academy's athletic director, Robert Jemison.
"I have to say, the device was wonderful," coach Jemison said. "I handed the pads to Dr. Griffin and just listened to the instructions. It told me to press the button to shock. Kelley rose up just like you see in the movies and after just a few seconds it was clear he was coming around. The machine told us there was a pulse."
"I look at my son who is 15 and I am thankful he didn't have to go through the loss of his father," Swift says. "These devices, are wonderful. All schools should have them and I'm glad the public schools are getting them. You feel like there's a reason you're here and I just hope I can fulfill that purpose."
Davis Nwankwo, saved on March 6, 2006
(Nwankwo speaking at a PAD event)
Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball forward, Freshman Davis Nwankwo collapsed during practice.
"I heard him hit the ground," said Vanderbilt University Athletics trainer, Mike Meyer. "He wasn't moving at all, so I knew it was bad."
Meyer realize Nwankwo was losing his pulse and was not breathing. He yelled for the AED and used it to shock him back to life.
"I am very lucky to be standing here on earth today," said Nwankwo. "I wouldn't be if it weren't for an AED. This device saved my life. I feel like this was a miracle for me and I believe AEDs can make miracles for thousands of other people who experience cardiac arrest."
Wayne Vowell, saved on June 7, 2005
Wayne Vowell was working out at the Green Hills YMCA when his heart suddenly went into a fatal rhythm.
"I just got on the bench to do some bench presses when the lights went out," Vowell said. "They didn't come back on until about a day and a half later. My doctors say they don't see too many like me... that I'm extremely lucky."
Several people saw Vowell collapse, and the Green Hills YMCA had an AED on the premises and rescuers were able to get it to Vowell very quickly. Early CPR was used and the AED arrived within a minute or two. Rescue experts at the Nashville Fire Department say those are the keys to saving someone after a heart attack.
"I'm blessed to have survived," Vowell said. "I feel a need to contribute. So, since my son, who is 18, is trained, I figure I should be as well. There shouldn't be an American around who doesn't know how to kneel down and attach this device."