Mercy launches year-long campaign to save lives
Effort aimed at preventing Sudden Cardiac Arrest

June 27, 2008

As part of a year-long campaign to increase awareness and improve access to life-saving therapy, Mercy Heart Hospital, Iowa Heart Center and WHO-TV 13 plan to educate central Iowans about Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and how it can be prevented through education, free screenings and the donation of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) to qualifying local-area businesses and organizations. The campaign kick-off will be held on Sunday, July 13, at Jordan Creek Town Center’s Live at the Creek concert series, where Mercy will offer free SCA screenings from 4-8 p.m.

Each year, SCA claims of the lives of more than 335,000 people in the United States and more than 5,768 Iowans. Unlike a heart attack, when a plaque buildup in the heart's arteries prevents blood flow to the heart, sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is an abrupt loss of heart function caused by a rapid disturbance in the heart’s natural rhythm.

“Often people think sudden cardiac arrest and a massive heart attack are the same thing,” said Dr. Steven Bailin, cardiologist and electrophysiologist with the Iowa Heart Center and medical director of the Heart Rhythm Center at Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines. “Just like your home with plumbing and electrical components, the heart has these two systems,” he said. “During SCA, the electrical system, which regulates the heart’s pumping action, suddenly becomes irregular, causing the heart to beat very fast or quiver instead of pumping blood to the body and brain.”

SCA can happen to anyone, but some people are at greater risk—including heart attack survivors, people who have heart failure, those who have survived a past episode of SCA or have a family history of SCA and people with a low ejection fraction (a measurement of the heart’s pumping ability).

Defibrillation within six minutes is critical to survival, either through the delivery of an electrical shock with an automated external defibrillator (AED) or with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Throughout the coming year, 12 AEDs will be given to Des Moines-area organizations that demonstrate a need and agree to complete required training.

"Early identification of patients at risk for SCA can save lives,” said Dr. Bailin. “We are very excited about this partnership and what it will mean in our community.”