Man Saved by an AED Reunites with Flight Crew and Doctor

Back in March Mike Upchurch boarded a plane to Colorado to see his son who had just returned from Iraq. 15 minutes into that flight he suffered a severe heart attack. Luckily for Mr. Upchurch the crew was trained in using an Automated External Diffibulator (AED). The flight crew, along with assistance from Dr. Mary Ann Bauman, quickly went into action and took steps that ultimately saved Mr. Upchurch's life.

Coincidentally Dr. Bauman serves on the American Heart Association Board of Directors. We are incredibly proud of the flight crew and Dr. Bauman for their training and professionalism during that medical emergency.

This past Monday Mr. Upchurch was reunited with the flight crew and Dr. Bauman. He was also suprised with a visit from his son who flew in from Colorado. This is truly an inspirational story and a great example of why we at the American Heart Association work so hard at what we do.

Below is a link to the news story from channel 5 in Oklahoma City.

http://www.koco.com/video/19897748/index.html

SB745-AED Good Samaritan passes House Judiciary

Yesterday afternoon SB745 passed the Oklahoma House of Represenatives Judiciary committee meeting 10-0. It will now go to the full House for a vote. Click here and tell your House member to vote YES!

Senate Bill 745 which would amend the current Good Samaritan law to allow for immunity of anyone who, in good faith, uses an AED on another person. By the passing Senate Bill 745, this will encourage Oklahomans to use AEDs and would reduce the number of cardiovascular deaths in our state.

It’s important to know that the new generations of AEDs require minimal training to use. They automatically diagnose the heart rhythm and determine if a shock is needed and prevent the user from overriding a "no shock" advisory. Their ease of use is increased by an electronic voice to prompt users through each step; all AEDs approved for use in the United States use a voice prompt.

You don’t have to be a hero to save a life, just someone who will pick up an AED and listen to the instructions. If you would like to take action on this or other legislation being supported by the American Heart Association please visit www.yourethecure.org and sign up today.

Click HERE to view a demonstration on how easy it is to use an AED.

OKC AHA Board Member Uses and AED to Save a Life

This past Friday while traveling to Denver an AHA board member and OKC physician was called to the aid of a passenger who was suffering a cardiac arrest. She responded by using her medical training and the plane's AED to save the man's life. You can read the full story here.

It's stories like these that remind me why I get out of bed every morning. Right now the AHA is working hard to pass Senate Bill 745 which would provide immunity to anyone who uses an AED in an attempt to save a person's life.

As you may know, AEDs are extremely important because:

• If an AED is used within three minutes of a sudden cardiac arrest, the victim has an 80 percent chance of survival.
• Every minute that passes before returning the heart to a normal rhythm after a cardiac arrest causes the chance of survival to fall by 10 percent.
• Each year, more than 250,000 people suffer cardiac arrest, usually away from a hospital. More than 95 percent of them will die, in many cases because defibrillation occurs too late to reverse the cardiac arrest.
• The new generations of AED's require minimal training to use. They automatically diagnose the heart rhythm, determine if a shock is needed, and prevent the user from overriding a "no shock" advisory. Their ease of use is increased by an electronic voice to prompt users through each step; all AED's approved for use in the United States use a voice prompt.

Without legislation we fear that individuals will hesitate before using an AED and those few seconds could mean life or death for the person needing care.

Would like to find out how you can show your support for this important piece of legislation? Then sign up for our You're The Cure network here.