by Tom SirmonsWritten by Tom SirmonsUpdated November 2026 with current CPR and AED guidance. Leo Staudacher did not plan on watching the end of the Michigan-Notre Dame football game from a hospital bed. But after what happened in the second quarter, he was grateful to see the ending at all. On September 10, 2011, the 69-year-old Bay […]
by Tom SirmonsWritten by Tom SirmonsUpdated October 2026 with current CPR and AED guidance. When paramedics arrived at Sarah Zumwalt Middle School in Dallas, they found a teacher in cardiac arrest. His heart was in ventricular fibrillation, or VF, a dangerous rhythm that can cause the heart to stop pumping blood effectively. But something important had already […]
by Kaline ReineUpdated October 2026 with current American Heart Association and First Aid guidance. If you or someone near you may be having a heart attack, you may have only minutes to act. Some heart attacks are sudden and intense. Others begin more slowly with mild pain, pressure, shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue, or other symptoms that […]
by Tom SirmonsWritten by Tom SirmonsUpdated October 2026 with current drowning-resuscitation guidance. A day at the beach turned into a life-threatening emergency when a Chicago father and his 14-year-old daughter were caught in rough water off St. Joseph, Michigan. The daughter began struggling in waves reported to be several feet high. Her father, Fidel Chavez, went into […]
by Tom SirmonsWritten by Tom SirmonsUpdated October 2026 with verified details and current CPR guidance. You are never too young to learn CPR. In May 2009, 15-year-old Sara Broski proved that in a very real way when a woman suddenly collapsed aboard a BART train in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sara had completed CPR training only […]
by Tom SirmonsWritten by Tom SirmonsUpdated October 2026 with verified details and current CPR and emergency-scene safety guidance. On February 28, 2011, Edward Johansen was driving along Route 140 in Norton, Massachusetts, when he witnessed a frightening crash. A vehicle struck a utility pole hard enough to bring down electrical wires. Inside was a driver who would […]
by Tom SirmonsUpdated October 2026 with current CPR and AED guidance. A normal dinner out turned into a life-or-death emergency in Cayucos, California, when a 74-year-old man suddenly collapsed on a sidewalk. Nearby bystanders rushed to help. Then law enforcement arrived with an automated external defibrillator, or AED. The combination of bystander CPR and early AED use […]
by Pearl SalkinUpdated September 2026 with current CPR and post-cardiac-arrest information. A normal workday at a West Palm Beach, Florida car dealership nearly became Charles Morgan’s last. On December 8, 2010, Morgan, a 52-year-old car salesman, stepped outside Schumacher Volkswagen for what he thought would be an ordinary cigarette break. Instead, he collapsed face-first in the grass. […]
by Tom SirmonsUpdated September 2026 with current CPR and AED guidance. The emergency call to Marin County, California, sounded routine: “Bicyclist down.” Firefighters and paramedics respond to plenty of calls involving cyclists, many of them relatively minor. This one was different. When emergency responders arrived, they found a cyclist in cardiac arrest and a nearby person already […]
by Nupur AgarwalAbusing your body can cost you a lot, not only in terms of doctor’s bills ,but also the age long negative effects it can have. Treasure your health and take good care of it before it’s too late!
by Nupur AgarwalThe word cholesterol generally sets alarms bells ringing in ones mind. One thinks of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke damaging the delicate human system. But then hey! If it’s all that bad, what is the need of this soft, waxy, greasy substance doing rounds in our body?
by Mollie BowmanMore than 430,000 women die yearly due to cardiovascular disease.
by Laura_FrostWritten by Laura Frost Most workplaces have a first aid kit. But what happens if an employee, customer, or visitor suddenly collapses from cardiac arrest? Bandages and antiseptic aren’t going to help restart a heart. That’s where an Automated External Defibrillator, or AED, becomes critically important. The American Heart Association reports that approximately 10,000 cardiac […]
by Maria McCutchenBaseball fields are usually associated with summer evenings, folding chairs, dusty cleats, and parents cheering from behind the fence. But like any athletic setting, a ballpark is also a place where medical emergencies can happen. Most baseball injuries are relatively minor: bruises, sprains, cuts, or the occasional collision. One much rarer emergency can happen when […]
by Tom SirmonsWritten by Tom Sirmons When someone suffers sudden cardiac arrest, the person standing nearby may be their best chance of survival. Cardiac arrest happens when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood effectively. Within seconds, the person usually becomes unresponsive and stops breathing normally. Without blood flow, the brain and other vital organs quickly begin to […]