Dr. Spradlin talks about life with a stroke on Channel 4

Dr. Janet Spradlin, immediate past president of the AHA SouthCentral Affiiliate Board, was recently interviewed on News Channel 4 in Oklahoma City about living life after a stroke. Dr. Spradlin did a great job so please take a few minutes to watch.

Link to story: http://www.kfor.com/videobeta/f706a2c2-3021-4e66-9d73-347c502a3b5f/News/Healthcheck

May is American Stroke Month

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has name May as American Stroke Month. Here in Oklahoma we brought two survivors of stroke to visited with lawmakers about the need for quality stroke care in Oklahoma.

Pam, stroke survivor and AHA/ASA volunteer, visited with

Rep. Thompson about stroke care in Oklahoma

Cassandra Rigsby, AHA Intern, Gary and Pam visiting

with Senator Crain about their experiences with stroke.

Pam and Gary speaking with Rep. Coody

Gary shares his experience with having a stroke at

the age of 20 with Senator Todd Lamb.

Consider some facts about stroke from the CDC:

• Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Around 137,000 Americans die of stroke every year.

• Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Every three to four minutes, someone dies of stroke.

• Stroke is a leading cause of death for both men and women. In 2006, 6 out of every 10 deaths due to stroke were in women.

• Every year, about 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. About 610,000 of these are first or new strokes. About 185,000 people who survive a stroke eventually have another.

• In 2010, stroke will cost the United States $73.7 billion. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity.

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.