by When Heather Baker suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at work in 2018, she had no history of heart problems.
“I started to crave air,” she told NBC Chicago. “My heart had stopped.”
Her story is different from that of Amit Sethi; The resident of New York knew that he had heart conditions and blockages.
“I mean, I escaped death,” Amit told NBC Chicago and remembered his sudden heart attack a few months ago.
He was in the city to run the Turkey trot with his family in Evanston.
“I had spoken with my cardiologist at home and we had decided a bit that exercise was in order. But it was really cold and I was not aware of how dangerous that is if you have heart disease,” Amit said.
He collapsed two miles in the race. Fortunately, bystanders there knew CPR and kept Amit alive until he arrived in the hospital.
“He had the constant CPR, even until he arrived in the Evanston hospital. His heart only came back to a normal rhythm a few minutes after his arrived,” Dr. Jonathan Rosenberg, an interventional cardiologist at Endeavor Health who treated Amit.
Although Amit and Heather have very different stories about the heart, they share something in common; CPR saved their lives.
Heather later learned that her sudden cardiac arrest was the result of a medicine she had used. That experience led her to teach CPR through the American Heart Association.
“There are only two simple steps to perform CPR. You call 911 and you push hard and quickly in the middle of the chest. And you will do that until EMS arrives,” she said.
Heather has so far trained more than 5,000 people. She also pushed the American Heart Association to increase the readiness of the school in the case of a cardiac emergency situation.
“We have just passed a law this summer in Illinois that now requires cardiac emergency aid plans in schools,” she said.
“As members of the community, we have a moral obligation to be ready to appear for each other and save each other’s lives when that time comes,” Heather told NBC 5.
“Heart disease is the most important murderer of women in the United States. And people often underestimate their risk,” said cardiologist Dr. Sarah Alexander, who also works for Endeavor Health.
In addition to family history and genetics, risk factors of heart conditions can include a poor diet and exercise, high cholesterol levels, diabetes or smoking. And specifically for women, hormonal changes such as pregnancy and menopause can increase your risks.
And although heart conditions can meet everyone, on Friday in GlenView, about 80 medical professionals from Endeavour gave a Heart Health symposium focused, mainly focused on the treatment of women.
Endeavour is organizing a BYSTELEN CPR/AED Community Training Event in Skokie Hospital at 10.00 am on Saturday 15 February. Amit will be in the city for that event.
The American Heart Association has found bystanders up to 10 minutes after a cardiac arrest, the brain function can protect. Find more information here.
