If you think normal, healthy children don't die every day from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), then click on this link: http://www.parentheartwatch.org/inthenews.aspx. Then ask yourself, "How many children can been saved by an AED in the future?"
March 25, 2000 - Northport, NY. Louis Acompora died from a condition known as commotio cordis while playing lacrosse during his first Northport High School game. He was only 14 years old. Despite wearing a chest protector, a lacrosse ball struck him in the chest disrupting his normal heart rhythm. Rescuers at the scene administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). However, defibrillation was not administered for well over 12 minutes following the collapse. Attempts at resuscitation were futile and Louis died. It is believed that if an AED was more readily available, Louis Acompora would be alive today.
March 17, 2012 - England. English soccer player, Fabrice Muamba, suffered sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed during the first half of an FA Cup quarter-final match between Bolton and Tottenham Hotspur. Muamba received numerous defibrillator shocks both on the pitch and in the ambulance. Muamba survived. Repeated use of an AED had played an important role in saving Muamba's life.
May 11, 2015 - Rocky Point, NY. A 15-year-old baseball player is lucky to be alive and in the hospital after getting hit in the chest with a baseball. The incident happened when the teen was inside the batting cage at the North Shore Little League complex in Rocky Point. The teen was pitching overhand in the cages, when a line drive came back at him and hit him in the chest. He went down hard and was in immediate trouble. Parents began screaming for help. Thankfully, an off-duty Suffolk County police officer, who had just finished coaching his daughter's softball team, ran forward with a defibrillator and shocked the non-responsive boy back to life.
