Chest Pain? Your Next Choice Could Be a Lifesaving One

In the moments following a suspected heart attack, time begins ticking on your “heart clock”—each tick is another second that your heart goes without adequate blood flow. Because 3,000 to 4,000 individuals die as a result of sudden cardiac death, your decisions in those critical moments can be lifesaving.
If you think you’re experiencing a heart attack: pick up the phone, not the keys.

Sam Baker, the morning edition host at KERA 90.1 FM public radio in Dallas, Texas, moderated a panel of medical experts to discuss why calling 911 can benefit your quality of care in critical moments and to brainstorm why people are choosing to drive themselves to the emergency room after a heart attack.

Read more on the Baylor Scrubbing in Blog - 

Take care of our Athletes

With Spring’s arrival means Spring sports for High School. Baseball in full swing, Soccer players out of the field, High School Softball and of course, the dreaded Spring football practice with the 7 on 7 games.

Although Springtime isn’t a HOT time of the year as far as temperature, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be aware of the issues and problems that our young athletes can run into. Our young athletes can get dehydrated, and experience muscle strains, tears and at times broken bones.

We depend on the Coach’s to prepare the water for the athletes and make sure they stay dehydrated, but what if there is a underlying problem that no one is even aware of, not even that high school football player or his family.

There are several steps that parents/coach’s and high school trainers can take to ensure the safety of the football players:

1/ Make sure that a trained staff member/adult is present at all times during a game or practice Make sure that staff member is trained and certified in first aid and CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation)~ If you don't know it, LEARN it! If you have access to a AED (automated external defibrillator) at the school, double check to make sure it is accessible quickly.

2/ Educate the player on health safety and warning signs. Make sure that the players are educated on nutrition, injury prevention and hydration and if he/or she feels sick or has shortness of breath ~immediately let a Coach or Administrator know!

3./ Have a AED available and near at all sporting events including practices. This could save a young person’s life.

4./ Encourage your High School athletes and parents to have a heart screening. Heart conditions are often undiagnosed until Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) occurs, and currently~ the majority of Sudden Cardiac Arrest incidents in youth athletes are fatal.

Living4Zachary promotes Heart Screening for all but especially in young athletes. It does make a difference, and if you don't believe how important screening is ~ just ask Karen Schrah, Mother of Zachary Schrah . Zachary died in April of 2009 of SCA at football practice, a simple Heart Screening could have helped save his life.

If you would like more information on the Living4Zachary mission, please visit our website and find out how to help with SCA awareness.

Do you know basic facts about Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

Do you know basic facts about 

Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

Sudden Cardiac Arrest is NOT a Heart Attack
Sudden Cardiac Arrest takes one life every two minutes
Did you know that membership to the Sudden Cardiac Awareness Association is free?
Sudden Cardiac Arrest takes more lives than Lung Cancer, Aids or Breast Cancer
70% of people don't perform CPR on a person that is arresting
Some healthy foods that you eat CAN interact with cardiac medications
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is an "electrical" problem
30/50% would more than likely survive if CPR and AEDs were used within minutes of a SCA collapse
1 in 200,000 high school athletes in the US will die suddenly, most without any prior symptoms
African Americans are more likely to die from SCA than Caucasians
Chances are you know someone, a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor that has known someone that has been struck by Sudden Cardiac Arrest
The very FIRST thing that you do when someone collapses is call 911

And did you know that the most important thing you can do to prevent Sudden Cardiac Arrest is to have your heart screened? We encourage you to call 1-800-4BAYLOR today to schedule a Living for Zachary screening for your child today!  Know your facts about Sudden Cardiac Arrest and read the Frequently Asked Question on Living for Zachary.