First Life Saved! Cumberland County Leads the Way With Lifesaving Program
The first-of-its kind 4 Minute City Program was fully deployed in Cumberland County, PA in January this year. This potentially life-saving initiative strategically deployed close to 300 next-generation AEDs throughout Cumberland County. The goal of this initiative is to get AEDs to the scene of a nearby cardiac arrest emergency more quickly than first responders, in hopes of saving countless lives a year. Cumberland County is one of four locations/cities across the United States to have this program in place.
The 4-Minute City initiative is spearheaded by Emergency Health Services Federation, Cumberland County Public Safety and The Peyton Walker Foundation. Additional stakeholders include Cumberland Goodwill EMS, Life Lion EMS, Lower Allen Township EMS, Penn State Health, UPMC and UMPC Pinnacle Foundation.
CARE TEAM MEMBER:
Alan Wirt, volunteer CARE Team Member who delivered the shock, shared his experience: “The Peyton Walker Foundation, the EHSF, the Cumberland County Emergency Management staff, and so many others have worked locally to put together an incredible program that gives caring citizens the opportunity to help save lives in their communities. I am so honored to be part of the 4-Minute City program because of its potential to empower ordinary citizens like me to save lives.”
“This experience demonstrated how a small group of brave and concerned neighbors (who discovered the collapsed individual and started chest compressions), plus the Avive CARE Team, local police, fire, and EMS, can come together seamlessly to give the patient the best chance of survival.”
PUBLIC SAFETY / 911 CENTER:
“We are proud of our 911 professionals who helped to implement this life-saving program, and honored that our Cumberland County 'B' platoon facilitated the first successful use of the Avive 4-Minute City program,” said Director of Public Safety Robert H. Shively Jr. “We look forward to this being the first of many 4-Minute City saves in Cumberland County.”
EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES FEDERATION PARTNER:
"We are immensely proud of the impact of the 4-Minute City initiative in Cumberland County. The recent life-saving intervention by one of our CARE team members, utilizing the Avive Connect AED, underscores the critical importance of this program. This successful response highlights the power of community involvement and the effectiveness of strategically placed, PSAP-connected AEDs. Through the collaboration of engaged citizens who have joined our CARE team and our dedicated first responders, we are making significant strides in improving cardiac arrest outcomes, ensuring that more lives are saved each day," said Matthew T. Kratz, System Specialist and SCTF EMS Planning Specialist.
PEYTON WALKER FOUNDATION:
“This save was years in the making…years of development work by Avive and years of program development and implementation in our community. We’ve worked with an army of partners to bring this program to life – with the hopes of creating a lasting legacy that will continue to save lives. Having lost a loved one to Sudden Cardiac Arrest, I know the devastation that’s left behind. Knowing that our work can spare families from having to live with loss makes our work worthwhile,” said Julie Walker, President of The Peyton Walker Foundation and Peyton’s Mom.
AVIVE SOLUTIONS:
"This is an incredible milestone for the 4-Minute City Program, for Cumberland County, and for the future of cardiac arrest response. Because of the Cumberland County stakeholders’ boldness to say that we can do better, an individual has been given a chance, and a family and community have been given hope. We are so proud of the bystanders who called for help and started CPR, the individual that responded with his Avive Connect AED, and to the professionals who took over care at the scene. Successes like this are the reason that we do what we do, and we are so proud to play a role in enabling a system of response that will hopefully lead to many more positive outcomes," said Rory Beyer, Co-Founder & President/COO of Avive Solutions.
ABOUT THE PEYTON WALKER FOUNDATION:
Peyton Walker was a 19-year-old Mechanicsburg native and a sophomore at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, whose life was tragically cut short by sudden cardiac arrest on November 2, 2013. The Peyton Walker Foundation was established to honor Peyton’s memory and her dreams of working in the medical profession. The Foundation's mission is to increase awareness and survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest through education, screening, and training.
The Peyton Walker Foundation, under the leadership of Walker, has worked with UPMC Pinnacle, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Duke University, Penn State Children’s Hospital, WellSpan, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, Geisinger Health, PIAA, Big 33, PA Scholastic Football Coaches Association, NFL Heart Smart Collation, and other agencies in an effort to save young lives. Advocates, parents and medical professional recognize more can be done to protect youth to reduce the occurrence of SCA in children.
For more information on The Peyton Walker Foundation, please visit PeytonWalker.org.
CONTACT: For more information or media inquiries, please contact: Julie Walker (717) 585-8112 [email protected]
FACTS ABOUT SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST (SCA):
· SCA is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. (over 600,000 annually).
· SCA is the #1 killer of student athletes in the U.S. and the leading cause of death on school campuses.
· Every hour, every day, a student dies from SCA. The majority of those deaths are attributed to detectable and treatable heart conditions that went undiagnosed due to the limited scope of standard sports physicals & well-child check-ups.
· Survival rates of SCA are less than 10%.
· Some warning symptoms that can lead to SCA include dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, chest pain, lightheadedness, and passing out. The first symptom of SCA is often sudden death. However, the use of AEDs and CPR increases the chances of surviving an SCA event.
