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HEARTRESCUE
New application deadlines for HeartRescue.
See Guidelines pages for details.
Supporting Programs to Increase SCA Survival
| Type of Grant: |
Health |
| Who Can Apply: |
Nonprofit Organizations or Public Institutions |
| What: |
Saving lives from sudden cardiac arrest through support of SCA awareness, prevention and treatment efforts |
| Locations Served: |
United States, Canada, Western Europe |
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death throughout the world. For many victims of SCA, there is no previous history of heart problems. Sudden cardiac arrest is often the first symptom, and can occur in outwardly healthy people with no known heart disease or other health problems. Most victims have heart disease, although they may not know it. The key to survival for most victims is immediate care and a strong chain of survival that includes early access to an automated external defibrillator (AED) and follow-up care to assess the need for an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).
Learn More
HeartRescue: Helping to Save More Lives
During the past eight years the Medtronic Foundation has partnered with more than 150 communities and organizations around the world and provided them with over $4 million in HeartRescue grants. These groups promote the benefits of early defibrillation and work to train community members on CPR and AED use.
HeartRescue also fosters grassroots advocacy groups that work to increase awareness on SCA at the local and national levels and to improve community access to early defibrillation. Other successful programs include airport Heart Carts to train the traveling public, CPR/AED training in schools, at sporting events, shopping areas, and concerts.
HeartRescue: 2008
In an effort to make an even greater impact on SCA survival and meet the challenge of increasing the number of bystanders trained in CPR and AED use, the HeartRescue 2008 Program will focus U.S. grant guidelines on school-based CPR/AED education programs. Guidelines for Canada and Europe will also include school-based initiatives, as well as funding first responder and public access defibrillation efforts, to meet the different needs of each country.
Why Focus on School Programs?
The primary rationale for funding school programs lies in the long-term impact of creating a new generation of people who will understand the risk factors for SCA, will recognize SCA when it happens, and take immediate action to help save a life when it does. School-based training in emergency activation and CPR is an effective investment because these skills provide potential benefit throughout the community and not just at school. School training contributes to life long awareness, knowledge, and skills that can lead to more lives saved now, and in the future.
Children suffer SCA less frequently than other age groups. Yet the dramatic consequences and productive life years lost for young SCA victims should play heavily in decisions to deploy AEDs on school grounds. Schools with strong Emergency Response Plans that include an early defibrillation component with trained responders strengthens the community with more saved lives at every age level in addition to increasing awareness about SCA, and what we can do as citizens to help save lives.
Recent studies have shown:
- A victim of SCA is twice as likely to survive with bystander CPR, yet layperson CPR is performed in only one out of four cases.
- Children age 9 and above showed high quality overall performance after being trained in life support techniques.
- Training secondary school teenagers to perform emergency life support was successful, particularly in their ability to deploy an AED and perform CPR.
- Only 15 US states mandate CPR training for high school students. Although many schools voluntarily teach CPR, the quality, consistency, and frequency of training is varied.
Guidelines:
U.S.
Canada and Europe
Grants List:
U.S., Canada and Europe
What is SCA? SCA and the Crucial Role of the Bystander and CPR/AED Use
Research End Notes
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