February 24, 2025 • 46 mins
Our latest episode highlights the vital importance of heart health awareness, especially during American Heart Month. Host Melody welcomes Wendy, Joy FM’s Community Care Specialist, for an insightful conversation with Jennifer Graziano, Senior Community Impact Director at the American Heart Association. Together, they discuss the critical warning signs of heart attacks and strokes—two of the leading causes of death in the U.S.—and the life-saving steps everyone should know, including hands-only CPR and AED usage.
• Importance of American Heart Month
• Disturbing statistics on heart disease mortality
• Gender differences in heart attack symptoms
• Role and effectiveness of hands-only CPR
• Urgency of using AEDs in cardiac emergencies
• Essential health behaviors for heart health
• Encouragement for community-based heart health education
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Melody and I'm Candy and you're listening
to Quirks, bumps and Bruises.
So, on this episode of Quirks,bumps and Bruises, first of all,
I have a guest in here,although she's not a guest
because she's a co-worker.
Hi guys, it is Wendy Bundy.
And Wendy, first of all, giveus your title.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So I am the Community Care Coordinator here at Joy FM
.
I get to make arrangements forall the events that we go to.
I get to love up on ourlisteners and the main job that
I really enjoy doing is what Itell everybody.
I get to cry, I get to pray, Iget to love and I get to laugh
on everybody that I meet.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So that's the best part.
Well, you sounded like youmemorized that, but you didn't.
I did not.
Very good, and probably many ofyou listening have maybe even
talked to Wendy at one time oranother, but recently, wendy,
you were able to talk to someonefrom the American Heart
Association.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
This is Heart Month right, it is February's Heart
Month for American HeartAssociation.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
And just tell us who it is that you were able to talk
to and kind of what that wasabout, and then we're going to
share that interview that youyourself did with her.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So, yes, we have our show called Community Matters
and we talk about things thatare going on in our community.
So I contacted Miss JenniferGraziano, who is the Senior
Community Impact Director forthe American Heart Association
of the Triad, and we talkedabout February being heart month
and it is so important for usto know how to recognize signs
(01:31):
and symptoms of heart attacksand strokes and how to take care
of yourself so that you canavoid those issues if possible.
And also, the main thing is,with Jennifer, especially in
this role, it was a verypersonal thing for her when her
mother went into sudden cardiacarrest and there was nobody
there to help do CPR.
So we also go into hands onlyCPR that anybody can do
(01:56):
bystanders.
You don't have to be certified.
They teach you how to do it.
You call 9-1-1 and they alsotell you how to do it.
One of the things that you aregoing to hear about is how to do
hands-only CPR and that'sreally, really important.
You don't know how many livesthat can be saved if you at
least just try.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
That's awesome and I know that, if I'm not mistaken
and you and Jennifer may getinto this but heart attacks,
heart issues, is the number onecause of death in women, correct
?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Actually, heart attacks are the number one cause
of death in women, correct?
Actually, heart attacks are thenumber one cause of death in
the United States, men and women, men and women.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Wow, and strokes are the fifth, so important
information, and so we're goingto just play that interview
right now for you.
Very important y'all.
Not only listen to it yourself,share it with your family, your
friends and those that you love.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Here is wendy and jennifer from the american heart
association hi, this is wendy,your host for community matters
here on joy fm, and today we'regoing to be talking about some
information that could save yourlife.
The month of february isamerican heart month for the
american heart association now.
Last year marked 100 years oflife-saving work for the
(03:05):
American Heart Association andthey will continue to keep
sharing this information to helpyou enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
Now today I'll be talking to MsJennifer Graziano, who is the
Senior Community Impact Directorfor the American Heart
Association on heart health, andfor the next three weekends, we
will be sharing information onsigns and symptoms of a heart
(03:26):
attack or stroke, information onhow to maintain a healthy
lifestyle and what to do in caseof an emergency.
Ms Jennifer, we are so gratefuland so thankful to have you
here today, and I do want topoint out that she is the impact
director for the local triad,but American Heart Association
is nationwide.
They have local marketseverywhere in your community, so
please give them a call, lookup their website, which is
(03:50):
heartorg oh, how easy toremember that yes, so heartorg
and find your local market.
Get all the information that youneed.
That we're going to bediscussing again, ms Jennifer.
Thank you so much for beinghere thanks for having me, wendy
well, first of all, we aregoing to be talking about some
heart health, but I ask everyoneI interview, tell us a little
bit about yourself, tell us howyou got into American Heart
(04:12):
Association.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
All right, well again , I'm Jennifer Graziano, the
Senior Community Impact Directorwith the American Heart
Association and the Triad Marketin North Carolina.
That just means I managecommunity health and clinical
programs in my area to drivebetter health outcomes for folks
.
This work is really personal tome.
National Heart Month is myfavorite month of the year.
(04:33):
I got into health prettyinspiring way, you would say.
I grew up in a householdsurrounded by cardiovascular
disease.
I had a grandfather who hadseveral heart attacks, who
eventually died from the lastheart attack he had, and I lost
my mom at 18 to sudden cardiacarrest.
That was not immediatelywitnessed in a household that
(04:54):
didn't have someone trained inCPR.
So, like I said, it's prettypersonal and just kind of what I
learned from those experienceswas prevention is key and so is
preparedness being prepared inan emergency.
So naturally this position wasa good fit for me and I'm really
passionate about these topicswe're going to talk about today.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And I can promise you she has some passion in her
voice.
I've talked to her over acouple weeks and she really
loves and enjoys what she does.
We're both all about prevention.
We're both all about trying toprevent the sudden cardiac
arrest and the heart attacks andthe strokes if possible,
because the main thing is youjust need to know the signs and
symptoms you need to have.
Cpr is honestly easy to do andwe will talk about this later on
(05:36):
, in a couple, in a week or two,for right now I did not know
this until this morning thatheart disease still remains the
leading cause of death in theUnited States.
I was completely shocked aboutthat.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Yeah, it's alarming to me and a lot of other folks.
About every 34 seconds someonedies of cardiovascular disease.
That's about 2,500 people a day, so it's pretty prevalent.
Wow, that is a lot.
Yeah, and I think what's moreimportant to understand I mean
that helps us understand the why, but also making sure we know
(06:11):
the warning signs so thatultimately, we could save a life
.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yes, in my past job as a paramedic, it is really
important to be able to pick upsome signs and symptoms, and
there's so many signs andsymptoms of a heart attack.
It may be different from oneperson to the other.
One person may have chest pain,one person may have jaw pain.
Men and women are different.
That's right.
Miss Jennifer, can you tell ussome of the warning signs of a
heart attack that are sometimestypical and maybe can be not so
(06:37):
typical?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Definitely We'll go through what those warning signs
are, but ultimately if you oranyone you're with is having
these symptoms, the first thingyou want to do is call 911.
Yes, for a stroke, which we'lljump into, but you want to note
the time that those symptomsfirst appeared, because a first
responder may be able toadminister a clot-busting drug
(06:59):
within those first few hours toreally improve your chances of
getting better faster.
For a heart attack, the mostcommon one, and maybe one
listeners are familiar with, ischest pain.
That can be sudden and intense,or it can happen slowly, which
can be more alarming because youmight attribute it to something
(07:20):
else.
The way you're responding tothe lunch you had the physical
activity you're doing.
So it can be intense or itcould be gradual or just kind of
feel like mild discomfort.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Your chest could just get a little tight, yeah yeah.
So that's kind of more thecenter of the chest and it can
come and go.
That's another thing.
People might ignore it, becauseit comes and goes.
It can feel like uncomfortablepressure, squeezing, fullness or
pain, shortness of breath.
(07:51):
You can have that with orwithout the chest.
Discomfort you can havediscomfort in other areas of the
body like the arms, the back,the neck, the jaw, the stomach.
You might break out in a coldsweat, have some nausea or
lightheadedness.
And now women.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yes, women are.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
We're different, that's right.
We're different and our brainsare wired to think oh, it's
nothing, right, we do every time, yep, oh, it's stress, yep.
So we're more likely to ignoreour symptoms.
Women now.
They still have the commonchest pain that men will have,
but they're more likely than mento experience some of those
(08:26):
other symptoms, particularlyshortness of breath, nausea,
vomiting and back or jaw pain.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I've noticed in my past career that a lot of women
had just it was just back pain,mm-hmm, their back was bothering
them and they couldn't figureout just sudden.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, and you know how common are we to say it's
because I carried my kid aroundall day yeah, or I did a day's
worth of chores and I think ourback pain is related to that it
is hard to associate back painwith chest pain yeah, so we just
want to put these warning signsto memory.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yes, the main thing is don't be afraid to call 9-1-1
, right, if it's not a heartattack going on, you get the
hospital and it was just acidreflux.
That's better than waitingaround and deciding, oh, I'll go
later.
And then you have more heartdamage, you have more issues and
you I'll just be honest you maynot be there to make it till
(09:21):
later yeah, it is real importantto never be afraid to call 911.
They will come out, they willcheck you out.
I've always told people anytype of chest pain, any of these
symptoms, they need to go tothe hospital, get some blood
work done.
Just ease their mind.
If anything else, ease theirmind that is this a heart attack
or is this not Right?
But at least you know.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Right.
At least you know For sure.
And as far as stroke you knowthat's still really prevalent in
the United.
States.
It's the fifth leading cause ofdeath, according to the
American Association.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Wow, I did not know that.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, so stroke.
If we're thinking about how torecognize, we want to think
about the acronym FAST.
F-a-s-t.
F stands for face drooping.
You might have some numbness orweakness to the face.
If you're with someone, ifyou're a witness to someone
having a stroke, ask them tosmile.
(10:12):
Does one side of the face droopor is it numb?
The A in FAST stands for armweakness.
Ask the person to raise botharms.
Is one arm weak or numb?
Does one arm drift downward?
So that weakness is a sign of astroke, especially on one side
of the body.
Speech difficulty.
(10:33):
So ask a person to repeat asimple sentence.
Just ask them.
The sky is blue.
If they're unable to speak orif they're hard to understand,
you know that would be a warningsign.
And then the T in FAST is timeto call 911.
If a person shows any of thesesymptoms, even if the symptoms
go away, call 911 and get themto the hospital immediately.
So we're looking for thatsudden numbness or weakness of
(10:55):
the face or the arms or the legs, confusion, trouble speaking,
trouble seeing, sudden troublewalking or loss of balance and
sometimes severe headache withno known cause.
So that's that acronym you wantto memorize so that you can
spot it quickly and act fast,act fast.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I will tell you that I had a gentleman who he only
experienced speech issues.
He couldn't talk.
Yeah, he was talking to hiswife and then he just he stopped
talking.
He was having a stroke.
It kind of depends on where youhave it in the brain, right,
but a lot of times you are goingto have the fast symptoms and
(11:35):
as soon as you recognize it,call 9-1-1.
If you see, if you or a lovedone are having any of these
warning symptoms, any of theseproblems I cannot stress it
enough and I know Ms Jennifercannot stress it enough Please
call 911.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
That's right.
Do not delay getting the careyou need so that you can walk
out of the hospital the sameperson you were going into it,
with the same lifestyle and thesame quality of life.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I know that we gave you a lot of information.
There were a lot of symptomsthat were present that we talked
about Heart attack symptoms,stroke symptoms.
I understand that's just a lotof information.
So I encourage you to go onlineto heartorg wwwheartorg and
learn more.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
We are a wealth of resources.
Feel free to check us out.
We've got a search bar.
If it's heart attack, you wantto learn more about stroke
nutrition?
Anything AFib, we got youcovered.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah, they do have a lot of stuff on their website.
We could have way more thanfour segments if we went over
everything on their website.
The most important ones are theheart attack and stroke
symptoms and other things thatwe'll be talking about in the
next coming weeks.
I do encourage you to go online, check everything out, have
these memorized, even if it'sjust one or two things, and
(12:51):
again, please call 9-1-1.
With any sign or symptom ofanything, please call 9-1-1.
They will be happy to come outand check you out and take care
of you.
So, ms Jennifer, did we missanything?
That covers it?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
And just we'll get a chance to go into this in more
detail but know your healthhistory.
Know your family history.
Know your numbers If it's beena while since you've seen your
doctor go and get your annualphysical.
Know your baseline.
Know your normal, so that whensomething abnormal like perhaps
(13:24):
warning signs of a heart attackor stroke show up, you know that
this isn't something youregularly deal with.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That is something you do need to know.
That is important.
It's important to also knowyour medications, as well.
Have them out, have them wherethe medics can come in and see
them, have everything there and,like she said, know your
numbers, know what's normal.
That's all really goodinformation to have when you
call 911.
I hope you learned a lot today.
This subject is very near anddear to my heart, to me and to
(13:52):
Ms Jennifer.
We just really want to get thisinformation out there and get
you to understand that there areways.
It may be the leading cause ofdeath, but there are ways that
you can prevent that and Icannot get over that stroke was
the fifth leading cause of death.
There's a ways if you recognizethe symptoms right away, there
are ways that they can reversethe symptoms.
(14:12):
There are ways that they canminimize the symptoms.
So that is why it is soimportant to know the signs and
symptoms of a heart attack and astroke.
Tell us how we can be a littleheart healthy.
What can we do?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Oh, this is such a fun topic for me and you know
this is this is really personalbecause I think prevention is so
, so important.
So the American HeartAssociation kind of categorizes
these eight most importantthings, we call them life's
essential eight and these arekind of the key measures for
improving and maintaining goodcardiovascular health.
(14:45):
So better cardiovascular healthhelps lower the risk that's the
goal here Prevent and lower therisk for heart disease, stroke
and any other major healthproblems.
So we're going to talk aboutthese eight things in two groups
.
We're going to talk about ourhealth behaviors and our health
factors.
So for our health behaviors, sothink about the things you can
(15:06):
control, the things you canchange, that's eating better,
being more active, quittingtobacco and getting healthy
sleep.
And then our health factors aremanaging your weight, control
cholesterol, manage blood sugarand manage blood pressure.
Should we?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
jump into nutrition first.
I'm sitting here thinking Ineed to do a little bit better
with my health.
Some of these behaviors I'mlike, yep, that's me.
Factors yep, that's me.
Yeah, tell us some ways that wecan eat a little better.
And I need to make sure that Ido this.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So we just want to think about making smart choices
and swaps to build an overallhealthy eating style right?
The things we do more oftenmatter a lot more than the
things we do on occasion.
We want to watch our caloriesand watch our portions, make
sure they're appropriate for ourage and our size and our height
.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
So in other words, we can't fill the plate up.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
It depends, but let's think about the things we can
maybe add more of to our eatingpattern.
Okay, can?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
we fill the plate up with a lot of salad, but not all
the potato salad and mac andcheese.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Yeah, so the distribution of the foods we eat
definitely have an impact on orover our health.
We want to think about addingmore vegetables, fruits, whole
grains, beans, legumes, nuts,plant-based proteins, lean
animal proteins, skinlesspoultry, fish, seafood.
Those are the things we want toemphasize the most.
Now, on the flip side, what arethe things to maybe limit or
(16:29):
avoid?
Oh, this is going to be thehard part, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Yeah, I'm already cringing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
It is for some people , but it can also be the
simplest place to start for alot of folks.
Think about limiting oursweetened drinks, alcohol,
sodium, red and processed meats,refined carbohydrates, maybe
our full fat dairy.
We can reduce highly processedfoods and some tropical oils
like coconut and palm oil.
And then also pretty strictlyavoid trans fat and partially
(16:55):
hydrogenated oils.
Those are mostly found in, likeyour commercial baked goods and
your fried foods.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
All the good food.
It's okay, because I want tolive a little bit longer.
I want to do a lot more things.
God has a plan for me.
I can't do it if I'm not goingto eat right and I'm going to
make myself sick.
So I'm good with enjoying someextra vegetables, and I already
like fish.
There you go.
So I'm already one step ahead.
I gave up my sodas for a year.
(17:21):
I'm done with them.
I don't do them anymore.
I'm getting there.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Yeah, and I think that's such a key thing to
remember Small changes over timereally make big impact.
So finding what is that thingthat's achievable probably not
going to overhaul your wholediet in a day and sustain it but
if gradually, over time, youeliminated sugar, sweet and
sodas and then, after you feltlike you were sustaining that
(17:46):
well, you swapped out some ofyour protein food choices or
some of your snack choices forfruits and vegetables, it really
makes a big impact over time.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I think if you find something that you really like
and try some of these things,it's like, wow, these taste
really good.
Yeah, you never know.
And there's so many hearthealthy ways to cook these
things and you can try differentrecipes, so there's all kinds
of ways that you can take all ofthese and try to live a little
bit healthier and like itenjoyable yeah, make it
(18:14):
enjoyable.
Yeah, have a little fun timewhen you're cooking.
Just have a little bit of funtime of like cooking together,
chopping the vegetables together, kind of making it like, even
with your children.
Make it like a little game.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Absolutely.
The American Heart Associationhas endless healthy recipes at
heartorg, so check that out tooif you need more recipes.
There's also great informationon how to read and understand
our food labels so that we canmake healthier choices.
We can help compare product toproduct and maybe choose
products that have lower amountsof sodium, saturated fat and
added sugar, so have loweramounts of sodium, saturated fat
(18:45):
and added sugar.
So getting an understanding ofwhat that food label means and
how to make smart consumerchoices is also really key to
driving our health outcomes.
So read those labels.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yes, your life depends on it.
It could I mean seriously.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah.
So then that leads us toanother key part of a healthy
heart is being physically activeand kind of what some
guidelines are around that.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
See, that's my problem I have no energy, but I
would have energy if I would getmore active.
I need to get active is what Ineed to do.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Action precedes motivation.
Yeah, there you go, I just need.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, I'm going to get the energy if I get up and
just do things.
That's going to give me theenergy to keep going.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
And that goes back to that kind of small, attainable
goal right.
So maybe it is a 10 minutelunch break that over time you
can build the intensity or theduration of how long you walk
for.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I mean we can walk to the post office and back from
work.
Yeah, that's just maybe a 10minute walk.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
There from work.
Yeah, that's just maybe a 10minute walk.
There you go when you want toaim for about two and a half
hours of moderate physicalactivity a week, or 75 minutes
of vigorous activity.
For kids that should be 60minutes a day.
So this I think we get reallycaught up about.
It has to be at a gym or it hasto be, so technical.
It doesn't Just move your bodyto the point where your
heartbeat elevates and yourbreathing rate elevates, but you
(20:09):
can still carry a conversationif you needed to.
That's kind of what we'relooking for with moderate
physical activity.
So about two and a half hours aweek and, like I said, start
small and over time, increaseyour activity, increase your
intensity, try new things.
Just get your heart pumping.
It's so important.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
One of the things that I do now well, I do it
every time is when I'm brushingmy teeth, I do squats, Love that
.
And when I'm waiting at themicrowave, I, instead of going
to sit back down in my chair, Iam doing marches like marching
in place.
That's perfect.
I'm doing things like that.
I might be cleaning the kitchentable off or just something
(20:46):
that I'm still active.
I'm not just sitting on thechair waiting for my food to get
done, or even when it's in anoven, I'm still making myself do
stuff because my thoughtprocess is I'm up already.
I don't want to go getcomfortable and then turn around
in like 30 minutes and I haveto get back up again.
Might as well.
(21:11):
Just stay active.
You get too comfortable and youdon't get up.
Period.
I've been there.
There are way too many showsout there that you can binge
watch.
So even if you binge watchshows, get up between episodes
there.
You go, get up between episodesand move, do a little march, do
a little jog in place, dosomething like she's saying the
little things and we can thinkof it as a spectrum right.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
On one end we have increasing movement throughout
the day, so things like marchingin place while the microwave is
running, increasing physicalactivity.
So maybe that's parking furtheraway or taking the stairs or
instead of the elevator, andthen like more organized
exercise.
So all along the spectrum isgreat to think about getting
towards that.
Two and a half hours minimumper week.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Small steps can lead to bigger steps, absolutely, and
that goes with food, your foodchoices and what you're limiting
and exercise.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Absolutely.
It's very interesting to seethe secular effect of when I eat
better, I feel more energizedto move more.
Yes, when I move more, I feelmore inspired to make better
food choices.
When I sleep better, I get moreenergy to go to the gym or
whatever it is, so that kind ofleads us to healthy sleep.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
That's a struggle for some people, yes, truly.
That's truly a struggle forsome people.
It is yes, truly.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
That's truly a struggle.
For some people it is, and asbest as we can we are adults
want to aim for seven to ninehours of sleep each night.
Adequate sleep promotes healing.
Improved brain function reducesour risk for cardiovascular
disease, so something like bloodpressure or even diabetes.
Limiting screen time before bedcan really help.
Also, having a consistentbedtime and wake time every day.
(22:46):
That means, regardless of ifit's a weekday or if it's a
weekend, we go to bed and wewake up at the same time every
day.
Being physically active, havinghealthy coping skills for
stress that's pretty important,that's a challenge.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
It is Everybody's stressed.
It can be one little thing orone huge thing.
Stress is always going to bearound, so we do need to figure
out ways to cope with stress,and one of them is exercise.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
That's a great one, Again, thinking about preventing
a heart attack, preventingcardiovascular disease.
You know we've talked aboutnutrition, physical activity,
sleep habits and then anotherreally key preventable factor is
tobacco use.
The key for quitting tobaccothat includes cigarettes,
(23:30):
e-cigarettes, vaping, anynicotine products is make a plan
.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yep Got to get a mindset.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Absolutely.
Make a plan, set a quit datewithin the next seven days, and
there's steps to kind of do this, to set you up for success.
We want to.
Number one set a quit datewithin the next seven days and
there's steps to kind of to thisto set you up for success.
We want to.
Number one set a quit datewithin the next seven days.
Number two choose a method,whether it's cold turkey or
gradually.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I had a friend who did cold turkey and everybody
was like this ain't gonna workfor you, this ain't gonna work.
He had three rough days butthen after that he hadn't
touched a tobacco product sincehe has been like tobacco free
for over 40 years oh my goodness.
And the reducing risk is so keythere I bet he saw his blood
pressure improve and so manythings improve he actually said
(24:18):
that he was actually able tobreathe a little better, like
take deeper breaths.
He could do a little bit morewalking without being out of
breath.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So it's the trickle effect right, yes.
So one healthy habit leading toanother one?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yes, but if you can't quit cold turkey, you can quit
gradually.
There are, I know, people whohave quit gradually and have
been successful.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
And that leads us to kind of point number four, which
is decide.
Decide if you need help from ahealthcare professional,
nicotine replacement ormedications to help you quit.
And then, number five, preparefor your quit date.
How are you going to cope withcravings?
How are you going to cope withurges?
Who are the people in yoursupport system that need to know
(24:57):
that you're trying to quit andcan support you?
And then, lastly, quit on yourquit date.
Just stop right then and there.
Yeah, with your plan, with yourpeople, with all the preparing
you've done to help you besuccessful.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, just hey, pick a date and you're done, we're
done.
Yeah, my friend, I was one ofhis people, and when he would
like crave some tobacco and I'dbe like, come on, let's go for a
walk, I would direct hismindset to something else.
Distraction, distract him.
Yes, I would distract him.
A lot of times we'd go for awalk.
Now it was a walk around aparking lot, but we still went
(25:32):
for a walk and by the time wewere done and we had our little
talk about whatever, he was goodto go.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
And think about you know that could have been a, a
trigger he was having or an urgeand how just those simple kind
of really evidence-basedstrategies go a long way when
you have the support in place.
So again, thinking about, whenwe think about life's essential
eight.
The first part of it is thosehealth behaviors, those things
we kind of have control overEating well, moving our bodies,
(26:00):
sleeping, getting adequate sleepand quitting tobacco.
And then the other half of itreally is those health getting
adequate sleep and quittingtobacco.
And then the other half of itreally is those health factors.
So managing your weight,controlling cholesterol,
managing your blood sugar andmanaging your blood pressure
this is a conversation with youand your healthcare provider.
Yes, ideally we're looking for aBMI under 25 to manage weight.
We're looking for certain totalcholesterol and LDL or bad
(26:23):
cholesterol.
We're looking for a goal bloodsugar.
We're looking for a goal bloodpressure and there's general
recommendations out there.
We're not going to go into thattoday because those things are
so individualized and the keyhere is have a plan to what
those numbers should be withyour healthcare provider, so
that means you see them at aminimum yearly.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
That's important because you can eat, you can eat
healthy, you can exercise, youcan do all kinds of these things
and you can still have highblood pressure.
Yeah, it can be through geneticfactors, something you can't
even control.
High cholesterol can be agenetic thing that you may not
be able to control unless youtalk to your doctor.
You may have to get on meds.
At least when you go see yourdoctor, you know your numbers,
(27:04):
you know what you have to workon.
He's there to hopefully he'sthere to encourage you to do
better for your health, yeah,and it's just be.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Think of it as just a teammate on your health journey
.
You know you're doing your partwith your nutrition and your
physical activity and they'redoing their part with adjusting
your medications as needed,ordering certain labs that you
might need because of your ownindividual risk and health
history.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Yeah, and your doctors have resources that they
can send you to.
They can send you to anutritionist.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
If you need to get specialty care from, like an
endocrinologist or acardiologist, you know someone
who can look at it through theirspecialty lens.
So just keep those things inmind when we talk about
preventing cardiovasculardisease our behaviors and our
health factors.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
So, jennifer, can you tell us where we can go to get
that information?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yes, you can go to wwwheartorg slash life's eight
to learn more about Life'sEssentials Eight.
We even have Life Essentials 8for kids oh cool.
And a little quiz you can do tofigure out what your heart
score is and get somepersonalized advice based on
(28:16):
your own health behaviors andhealth factors.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And don't forget that at wwwheartorg you can get some
of those recipes.
I looked up some of thoserecipes and they sound really
delicious.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
So you can get all this information on their
website.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Yep, that's wwwheartorg.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
February is heart health month for the American
Heart Association, and we justwant you to know the signs and
symptoms of heart attack andstroke so you can get some help
right away.
We want you to learn how tolive a healthy lifestyle, do
some exercise, eat a littlebetter and avoid certain things.
We want you to do all this tohopefully help you to have a
healthier lifestyle, to also nothave you suffer a sudden
(28:59):
cardiac arrest or suffer a heartattack or stroke.
Cardiovascular disease is thenumber one cause of death, so I
just wanted to let you listenersknow today that this may be a
sensitive subject to some people.
We are going to be talking aboutsudden cardiac arrest that can
lead to death.
So we understand that somepeople may not want to hear this
and that is why I'm letting youknow ahead of time, just in
(29:21):
case.
So I hope you can listen andhope you can understand, so that
you know, in the possibility ofsomething happens in the future
, that there may be somethingthat someone can do.
So today we're going to go overwhat to do when someone you
love, or maybe a bystander,suffers from a cardiac emergency
, and why it is so important forthat early and quick
intervention.
Explain sudden cardiac arrestto us.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Yes.
So for National Heart Month inFebruary, we're continuing our
heart series and today we'retalking about sudden cardiac
arrest.
This is different than a heartattack, which is more of a
blockage, or maybe think of itas a plumbing issue.
Sudden cardiac arrest is moreof an electrical failure in the
heart that causes an irregularheartbeat.
(30:05):
So then the heart can't pumpblood to the brain, the lungs
and other organs and this causesa person to lose consciousness
and a pulse and the person candie if they do not receive help
immediately.
So if you see a teen or adultcollapse, immediately call 911
and start hands-only CPR ifyou've identified that that
(30:26):
person is not conscious orresponsive.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
You talked about hands-only CPR.
How do they learn how to dothat?
Speaker 3 (30:32):
So hands-only CPR is exactly how it sounds.
It's doing the chestcompressions only without
breaths, and it's very effective.
According to the American HeartAssociation, about 90% of
people who suffer a cardiacarrest outside of the hospital
they die.
And hands-only CPR can double ortriple a person's chance of
(30:54):
survival, so that's why we wantto do it immediately.
But unfortunately, what we'reseeing nationwide is only about
40% of people who experience acardiac arrest receive the
immediate help they need beforeprofessional help arrives.
Think about that Four out of 10people 40% are not getting the
immediate help they need.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Why do you think this is?
Do you think people?
Just don't understand how to doit Do.
They just are kind of scared todo it Fear is a big factor.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
So in a nationwide online survey that the American
Heart Association did, peoplecommented on why they didn't
perform CPR on someone incardiac arrest despite having
the opportunity to do so, andthe answers were kind of
alarming.
One they were afraid of legalramifications, afraid they might
hurt the person, felt cpr wastoo complicated, didn't feel
(31:45):
confident performing the steps,so maybe they've never had any
training whatsoever on cpr andthey didn't want to give the
rescue breath.
So that's why the americanheart association is on this
mission to create what we call anation of lifesavers and that's
making sure at least one personin every household knows how to
(32:07):
perform hands-only CPR.
And that's step one calling 911.
And step two pushing hard andfast in the center of the chest.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I will also like to throw in I used to be a CPR
instructor that they offerclasses that you can take that
are more in-depth and explain awhole lot more and can show you
a lot more things.
But until you take thoseclasses, or if you don't have an
opportunity this right here isso easy to do Call 911 and push
hard and fast in the center ofthe chest.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Yes, and that's at 100 to 120 beats per minute.
You can go to wwwheartorg slashCPR and watch some videos on how
to do it, and we also have agreat playlist of songs that are
the same beat as the CPR tempo,so that you kind of have a
reference point if you are everin a situation where you're
(32:57):
doing chest compressions onsomeone who's unconscious and
also a telecommunicator whenyou're on the phone with 911,
they'll be able to coach you inthe steps to do hands-only CPR
and probably encourage you tocount out loud so we know you're
doing it at the correct tempo.
But Wendy makes a superimportant point is yes, it's
(33:17):
great to be certified in CPR ifthat's something required for
your job or whatever, or justsomething you want to do, but
you do not have to be certifiedin CPR to try and save a life,
and I also encourage children.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
people think children can't do a whole lot of things,
but even an eight-year-old canpush hard and fast on a chest.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, so if you need to alternate if you're in a
situation where you have a longresponse time from EMS, which is
possible.
Right, it's an unfortunatereality we face.
Having someone to alternatedoing chest compressions is
great.
Or even a child can have a rolein calling 911.
Exactly.
Maybe they can share theiraddress, maybe they can share
(34:00):
points on how to find the victim.
Like we're in the backyard I'llmeet you at the front Everyone
can kind of play the role, andwe just hope that this is a
skill you never have to use, butknow that it's so important to
learn in case you're ever inthis situation.
Sudden cardiac arrest does notdiscriminate If you are young,
old, black, white, whatever itcan affect anyone at any time
(34:24):
and anywhere.
Anywhere.
Yeah and that's a good point tomention is 70% of
out-of-hospital cardiac arrestshappen at home.
I don't know about you, Wendy,but when I think about who's in
my home, I'm saving the life ofsomeone I love deeply.
Exactly that could be my husbandor my daughter or a parent or a
child or a sibling.
(34:44):
So that's why we want to makesure that at least one person in
every household knows how toperform at least hands-only CPR,
and then that kind of gets usinto.
Well, what about AEDs?
Right, If it's not at home, ifit's in a public place?
Speaker 2 (35:00):
That is very important.
I do want to point outsomething I think is kind of
important.
If you're by yourself and youwitness a cardiac arrest in your
home, your loved one, bystander, friend, neighbor, call 9-1-1,
put the phone on speaker, set itbeside you, yes, and do the
chest compressions yep, it canbe done.
In my household we had a plan.
I knew who can call 9-1-1 andwho couldn't.
(35:21):
You know, with my children onetalked really fast yeah, but but
have a plan, have a plan of whocan call who can do the chest
compressions if you, if youabsolutely physically cannot.
And have a plan.
Have the medications ready,have their history ready, have
all that stuff ready so as soonas the medics get there, they
can take over and get all theinformation they need and get
(35:41):
them on the road.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Absolutely.
And if you ever get a chancewhether it's through work or
church or your personal clubs orhobbies to get your hands on a
practice mannequin, reach out toyour local American Heart
Association and see if that'ssomething they can do.
Do a demonstration they can do.
Do a demonstration.
(36:03):
If, for some reason, you'rejust looking for education and
demonstrations versus beingcertified in CPR, that's
something that the AmericanHeart Association can provide.
So work with your local marketto see if that's something they
could do Our church.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
One good idea is we had several people at our church
to take a CPR class on aSaturday.
It's four hours, it don't takeyou long and, again, you do not
have to be certified.
I'm going to stress that.
But if you want to be, if youwant to learn more and
understand more of how it works,we had about 15 people they did
.
It's a class on Saturday, ittook four hours, and so now we
(36:32):
have 15 people in our churchthat know how to do CPR and know
how to do take care of someonein an emergency.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
And that goes to community preparedness, right,
that goes into creating aculture where my town, my
municipality, my congregation,whatever it is, is prepared to
act in an emergency.
So having something like acardiac emergency response plan
that maybe involves certain teammembers from that organization
(36:59):
who are trained in hand-only CPR, who have a written plan.
Where's the AED?
Where's it located?
Is it marked?
Is it public, as opposed tobehind a locked door where you
can't access it and just kind ofdrive home the point that AEDs
are meant for people like me andyou to be able to use.
(37:20):
They're really simple, they'remeant for the general public,
they're not meant just for ahealthcare professional.
So an AED is a automatedexternal defibrillator and it
delivers a electric shockthrough the chest to the heart
when it detects an abnormalrhythm and then it changes that
rhythm back to normal, andthat's a super important part of
(37:41):
saving someone's life during acardiac arrest.
So if you are in a place wherethere is an AED, you want to do
CPR combined with using an AEDto provide the best chance of
survival, and the AED tells youexactly how to use it.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
It prompts you.
All you have to do is hit thebutton to turn it on and it
tells you every single step thatyou need to do.
We actually we have one in ourchurch.
We actually had a cardiac eventto happen in our church several
years ago, when we did not havean AED, but people trained in
CPR at that time.
She is still here with us today.
Because of that, we have an AEDnow.
(38:20):
We have it right there.
It's between the bathrooms.
Right there, everybody knowswhere it is and you just you run
and get it and use it, turn iton and go from there.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
And that's so important to note is that it's
public, yes, and it's available,and it's meant for any
bystander to grab right.
We want to create that normthat the business owner has to
be the one to grab it, or thehealth ministry council, or the
nurse, or whoever it's meant forany general public person.
(38:49):
Yes, and like Wendy said, wewant to place any fear around it
.
It's not going to deliver ashock if one's not needed.
Right so it is that machine'sjob to do the detecting and do
the decision making.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
It is.
It takes away all the guesswork.
There's no guesswork.
You just, I promise you.
You turn it on.
You listen to the steps.
It tells you where to place thepads that you're going to need.
It tells you where to placethose.
It tells you how to place those.
It knows when to give a shockor not and it'll say whether
shock advised or shock notadvised.
And it'll say whether shockadvised or shock not advised.
And if it is a shock advised,then you click the button.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Right, yeah.
So super simple.
We want to get people, you knowone getting in a mindset of
locating it when they're out inpublic.
I mean, I work for the American.
Heart.
Association.
So it's like second nature forme to go to the Children's
Museum and be like, oh, there'sthe AED Good.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
One of their goals is to get AEDs everywhere.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
by the way, yes yes, and you know, even outdoors,
right?
Yes, If your church closes andlocks its doors at, let's say, 5
pm and someone's on the soccerfield or the playground and has
a cardiac arrest, you're missinga chance to save a life.
So that's a call to action.
To keep in mind is what's thebest placement option for your
(40:00):
AED Mm keep in mind is what'sthe best placement option for
your.
AED.
Is there a maintenance log onit, because those pads expire?
They do expire.
They need to be replaced.
Yes, so who's responsible formaintaining that?
Have you done a drill?
Have you coordinated with yourlocal county EMS?
And said hey, we need topractice this.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
Because I guarantee it's going to be a hot mess the
first time you do it, becauseI've been a part of drills so
you kind of want to work thosekinks out and getting hands on a
practice mannequin gettinghands on a like training AED is
really helpful and to makingsure the process is smooth and
effective and life-saving.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
I also want to point out that this is AEDs are very
important to grab and use, butdo not forget to call 9-1-1.
That's right, there is alwayssomebody.
You need to look at them andsay you need to call 9-1-1,
because everybody's runningaround and you think someone's
calling 9-1-1 but they're not.
But somebody else may be, butthey're not, so nobody's calling
(40:56):
9-1-1.
Please make sure you look atone person directly, have it set
up and say you call 911 yeah,or say you and the red shirt
with the black glasses exactly911 yes specific instructions,
so no one's wondering who's theone going to call 911.
So that's a good idea, never,never thought about that yeah,
and again, this is.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
I want to also drive home that this applies to teens
and adults.
Children reasons they go intosudden cardiac arrest is more
respiratory related, andchildren typically need the
rescue breaths.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
So this applies to teens and adults.
Again, step one call 911.
Step two push hard and fast inthe center of the chest until
help arrives and thoseprofessionals take over.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Yeah, they do have.
This is for children and teensand adults.
They have some specifically forinfants because the pads are
smaller and they go in differentplaces it goes in the front of
the chest and on the back, soit's a little bit different with
an infant.
If you're capable, if you'reable like your church I'm
thinking of churches If you'recapable of having both of them,
you can have the one for theinfant in the nursery and it's
(42:03):
like right there, yeah, and it'sthe same concept.
You get it, you turn it on andthere you go.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Definitely.
And that's like what's the callto action in all of this right,
right?
So what are some things yourchurch, your business, your
household, whatever can do tocreate this culture of
preparedness?
Or, you know, maybe you're justa lifesaver in waiting, you
know, and that's?
Does your organization have anAED?
Is it accessible and properlymaintained?
(42:30):
Do you at a minimum knowhands-only CPR?
Or are you someone who needs tobe certified in CPR and take a
local class or something how toidentify a cardiac emergency and
how to respond quickly?
Because that's what mattersmost If we're going to change
that.
Only 10% survive.
(42:52):
We got to act fast and we gotto act correctly and we have to
make it a community thing.
Exactly has to be a bigger issue.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Exactly.
Yes, I would like to point outthat we want it to work.
I have seen it where it workedright away, but sometimes it may
not.
At least you know you tried.
At least you know you got inthere and you did what you can
do, and that's the best thing.
That's because you don't know.
If you don't try, you don'tknow how the outcome is going to
(43:23):
be.
So, that one split decision ofyes or no, whether or not I
should do this, could be whetheror not they survive or not.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
And that's where a 911 telecommunicator can give
you some guidance on how youshould respond in this situation
.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
They won't leave you hanging.
They will be with you everystep of the way.
They tell you everything thatyou need to do.
They keep you calm, because insome points, it's hard to stay
calm in those situations.
Yeah, so they're your calmingvoice.
That's why it's so important tocall 9-1-1 very first thing.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
Yeah, Let let the professionals do their job.
But also, you know, if you arean organization like a church,
practice it.
Yes, have a cardiac emergencyresponse plan.
I did not even think about that, do some drills.
Yes, you know that's somethingyour local American Heart
Association market can help youdo.
If you have an AED, create thatcardiac emergency response plan
(44:15):
.
Help you organize a drill sothat you feel confident to act
in an emergency.
And I'd also like to notechurches aren't just places of
worship.
They can be polling sites,that's true.
They can have athletic events.
Yes, they can have othercommunity events like food
pantries that bring in othercommunity members.
So you're looking out for thewhole community.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
You're not just getting it for your congregation
.
You can be getting it foranyone that is using your church
at that time.
Absolutely.
Just remember CPR can double ortriple a person's chance of
survival.
That's just getting in there.
And again, just the two-stepcall 911 and push hard and fast
in the center of the chest.
That's still better than notknowing what to do and not doing
(44:56):
anything.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
Absolutely, and to learn more information you can
go to wwwheartorg slash CPR towatch some tutorials and videos,
learn how to do hands-only CPRand apply an AED, or find a
local course near you to becertified in CPR.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
We have learned a lot from the American Heart
Association.
We have learned the signs andsymptoms of a heart attack and
stroke, a lot of ways that wecan maintain some heart health
and be healthy, and I'm stillworking on that, but I'm going
to do it now.
We understand what happens ifsomeone were to be in an
emergency situation wherethey're unresponsive, they're
not talking and a possibility ofnot having a heartbeat at that
(45:35):
time.
It is real important to knowwhat to do in these situations,
and the first thing thing youwant to do again call 911 and
don't panic.
Just take one step at a time.
It's going to be okay.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
Yeah, you did your part.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So thank you so much for being here Again.
Remember that February is.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
National Heart Month, heartorg has a wealth of
resources if you're looking forrecipes, physical activity
advice, stress management advice, just to learn more, maybe,
about the conditions you manage,or to even get connected to
support groups or ways to beinvolved in the community that
drive good health outcomes sothat everyone gets a chance for
(46:15):
a longer, healthier life.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
Thank you, Jennifer.
You summed that up.
I don't even have to sayanything else.
Speaker 3 (46:21):
That was perfect.
Thank you so much for having me, Wendy.
It's a joy to be here.
Speaker 4 (46:25):
Thanks for listening to the Quirks, bumps and Bruises
podcast with Candy and Melody.
If you enjoyed the show, pleasetake a moment to subscribe,
rate and share the podcast.
You can learn more at joyfmorg.
Hi, I'm Melody and I'm Candy and you're listening
to Quirks, bumps and Bruises.
So, on this episode of Quirks,bumps and Bruises, first of all,
I have a guest in here,although she's not a guest
because she's a co-worker.
Hi guys, it is Wendy Bundy.
And Wendy, first of all, giveus your title.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So I am the Community Care Coordinator here at Joy FM
.
I get to make arrangements forall the events that we go to.
I get to love up on ourlisteners and the main job that
I really enjoy doing is what Itell everybody.
I get to cry, I get to pray, Iget to love and I get to laugh
on everybody that I meet.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So that's the best part.
Well, you sounded like youmemorized that, but you didn't.
I did not.
Very good, and probably many ofyou listening have maybe even
talked to Wendy at one time oranother, but recently, wendy,
you were able to talk to someonefrom the American Heart
Association.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
This is Heart Month right, it is February's Heart
Month for American HeartAssociation.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
And just tell us who it is that you were able to talk
to and kind of what that wasabout, and then we're going to
share that interview that youyourself did with her.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So, yes, we have our show called Community Matters
and we talk about things thatare going on in our community.
So I contacted Miss JenniferGraziano, who is the Senior
Community Impact Director forthe American Heart Association
of the Triad, and we talkedabout February being heart month
and it is so important for usto know how to recognize signs
(01:31):
and symptoms of heart attacksand strokes and how to take care
of yourself so that you canavoid those issues if possible.
And also, the main thing is,with Jennifer, especially in
this role, it was a verypersonal thing for her when her
mother went into sudden cardiacarrest and there was nobody
there to help do CPR.
So we also go into hands onlyCPR that anybody can do
(01:56):
bystanders.
You don't have to be certified.
They teach you how to do it.
You call 9-1-1 and they alsotell you how to do it.
One of the things that you aregoing to hear about is how to do
hands-only CPR and that'sreally, really important.
You don't know how many livesthat can be saved if you at
least just try.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
That's awesome and I know that, if I'm not mistaken
and you and Jennifer may getinto this but heart attacks,
heart issues, is the number onecause of death in women, correct
?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Actually, heart attacks are the number one cause
of death in women, correct?
Actually, heart attacks are thenumber one cause of death in
the United States, men and women, men and women.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Wow, and strokes are the fifth, so important
information, and so we're goingto just play that interview
right now for you.
Very important y'all.
Not only listen to it yourself,share it with your family, your
friends and those that you love.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Here is wendy and jennifer from the american heart
association hi, this is wendy,your host for community matters
here on joy fm, and today we'regoing to be talking about some
information that could save yourlife.
The month of february isamerican heart month for the
american heart association now.
Last year marked 100 years oflife-saving work for the
(03:05):
American Heart Association andthey will continue to keep
sharing this information to helpyou enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
Now today I'll be talking to MsJennifer Graziano, who is the
Senior Community Impact Directorfor the American Heart
Association on heart health, andfor the next three weekends, we
will be sharing information onsigns and symptoms of a heart
(03:26):
attack or stroke, information onhow to maintain a healthy
lifestyle and what to do in caseof an emergency.
Ms Jennifer, we are so gratefuland so thankful to have you
here today, and I do want topoint out that she is the impact
director for the local triad,but American Heart Association
is nationwide.
They have local marketseverywhere in your community, so
please give them a call, lookup their website, which is
(03:50):
heartorg oh, how easy toremember that yes, so heartorg
and find your local market.
Get all the information that youneed.
That we're going to bediscussing again, ms Jennifer.
Thank you so much for beinghere thanks for having me, wendy
well, first of all, we aregoing to be talking about some
heart health, but I ask everyoneI interview, tell us a little
bit about yourself, tell us howyou got into American Heart
(04:12):
Association.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
All right, well again , I'm Jennifer Graziano, the
Senior Community Impact Directorwith the American Heart
Association and the Triad Marketin North Carolina.
That just means I managecommunity health and clinical
programs in my area to drivebetter health outcomes for folks
.
This work is really personal tome.
National Heart Month is myfavorite month of the year.
(04:33):
I got into health prettyinspiring way, you would say.
I grew up in a householdsurrounded by cardiovascular
disease.
I had a grandfather who hadseveral heart attacks, who
eventually died from the lastheart attack he had, and I lost
my mom at 18 to sudden cardiacarrest.
That was not immediatelywitnessed in a household that
(04:54):
didn't have someone trained inCPR.
So, like I said, it's prettypersonal and just kind of what I
learned from those experienceswas prevention is key and so is
preparedness being prepared inan emergency.
So naturally this position wasa good fit for me and I'm really
passionate about these topicswe're going to talk about today.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And I can promise you she has some passion in her
voice.
I've talked to her over acouple weeks and she really
loves and enjoys what she does.
We're both all about prevention.
We're both all about trying toprevent the sudden cardiac
arrest and the heart attacks andthe strokes if possible,
because the main thing is youjust need to know the signs and
symptoms you need to have.
Cpr is honestly easy to do andwe will talk about this later on
(05:36):
, in a couple, in a week or two,for right now I did not know
this until this morning thatheart disease still remains the
leading cause of death in theUnited States.
I was completely shocked aboutthat.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Yeah, it's alarming to me and a lot of other folks.
About every 34 seconds someonedies of cardiovascular disease.
That's about 2,500 people a day, so it's pretty prevalent.
Wow, that is a lot.
Yeah, and I think what's moreimportant to understand I mean
that helps us understand the why, but also making sure we know
(06:11):
the warning signs so thatultimately, we could save a life
.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yes, in my past job as a paramedic, it is really
important to be able to pick upsome signs and symptoms, and
there's so many signs andsymptoms of a heart attack.
It may be different from oneperson to the other.
One person may have chest pain,one person may have jaw pain.
Men and women are different.
That's right.
Miss Jennifer, can you tell ussome of the warning signs of a
heart attack that are sometimestypical and maybe can be not so
(06:37):
typical?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Definitely We'll go through what those warning signs
are, but ultimately if you oranyone you're with is having
these symptoms, the first thingyou want to do is call 911.
Yes, for a stroke, which we'lljump into, but you want to note
the time that those symptomsfirst appeared, because a first
responder may be able toadminister a clot-busting drug
(06:59):
within those first few hours toreally improve your chances of
getting better faster.
For a heart attack, the mostcommon one, and maybe one
listeners are familiar with, ischest pain.
That can be sudden and intense,or it can happen slowly, which
can be more alarming because youmight attribute it to something
(07:20):
else.
The way you're responding tothe lunch you had the physical
activity you're doing.
So it can be intense or itcould be gradual or just kind of
feel like mild discomfort.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Your chest could just get a little tight, yeah yeah.
So that's kind of more thecenter of the chest and it can
come and go.
That's another thing.
People might ignore it, becauseit comes and goes.
It can feel like uncomfortablepressure, squeezing, fullness or
pain, shortness of breath.
(07:51):
You can have that with orwithout the chest.
Discomfort you can havediscomfort in other areas of the
body like the arms, the back,the neck, the jaw, the stomach.
You might break out in a coldsweat, have some nausea or
lightheadedness.
And now women.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yes, women are.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
We're different, that's right.
We're different and our brainsare wired to think oh, it's
nothing, right, we do every time, yep, oh, it's stress, yep.
So we're more likely to ignoreour symptoms.
Women now.
They still have the commonchest pain that men will have,
but they're more likely than mento experience some of those
(08:26):
other symptoms, particularlyshortness of breath, nausea,
vomiting and back or jaw pain.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I've noticed in my past career that a lot of women
had just it was just back pain,mm-hmm, their back was bothering
them and they couldn't figureout just sudden.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, and you know how common are we to say it's
because I carried my kid aroundall day yeah, or I did a day's
worth of chores and I think ourback pain is related to that it
is hard to associate back painwith chest pain yeah, so we just
want to put these warning signsto memory.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yes, the main thing is don't be afraid to call 9-1-1
, right, if it's not a heartattack going on, you get the
hospital and it was just acidreflux.
That's better than waitingaround and deciding, oh, I'll go
later.
And then you have more heartdamage, you have more issues and
you I'll just be honest you maynot be there to make it till
(09:21):
later yeah, it is real importantto never be afraid to call 911.
They will come out, they willcheck you out.
I've always told people anytype of chest pain, any of these
symptoms, they need to go tothe hospital, get some blood
work done.
Just ease their mind.
If anything else, ease theirmind that is this a heart attack
or is this not Right?
But at least you know.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Right.
At least you know For sure.
And as far as stroke you knowthat's still really prevalent in
the United.
States.
It's the fifth leading cause ofdeath, according to the
American Association.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Wow, I did not know that.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, so stroke.
If we're thinking about how torecognize, we want to think
about the acronym FAST.
F-a-s-t.
F stands for face drooping.
You might have some numbness orweakness to the face.
If you're with someone, ifyou're a witness to someone
having a stroke, ask them tosmile.
(10:12):
Does one side of the face droopor is it numb?
The A in FAST stands for armweakness.
Ask the person to raise botharms.
Is one arm weak or numb?
Does one arm drift downward?
So that weakness is a sign of astroke, especially on one side
of the body.
Speech difficulty.
(10:33):
So ask a person to repeat asimple sentence.
Just ask them.
The sky is blue.
If they're unable to speak orif they're hard to understand,
you know that would be a warningsign.
And then the T in FAST is timeto call 911.
If a person shows any of thesesymptoms, even if the symptoms
go away, call 911 and get themto the hospital immediately.
So we're looking for thatsudden numbness or weakness of
(10:55):
the face or the arms or the legs, confusion, trouble speaking,
trouble seeing, sudden troublewalking or loss of balance and
sometimes severe headache withno known cause.
So that's that acronym you wantto memorize so that you can
spot it quickly and act fast,act fast.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I will tell you that I had a gentleman who he only
experienced speech issues.
He couldn't talk.
Yeah, he was talking to hiswife and then he just he stopped
talking.
He was having a stroke.
It kind of depends on where youhave it in the brain, right,
but a lot of times you are goingto have the fast symptoms and
(11:35):
as soon as you recognize it,call 9-1-1.
If you see, if you or a lovedone are having any of these
warning symptoms, any of theseproblems I cannot stress it
enough and I know Ms Jennifercannot stress it enough Please
call 911.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
That's right.
Do not delay getting the careyou need so that you can walk
out of the hospital the sameperson you were going into it,
with the same lifestyle and thesame quality of life.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I know that we gave you a lot of information.
There were a lot of symptomsthat were present that we talked
about Heart attack symptoms,stroke symptoms.
I understand that's just a lotof information.
So I encourage you to go onlineto heartorg wwwheartorg and
learn more.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
We are a wealth of resources.
Feel free to check us out.
We've got a search bar.
If it's heart attack, you wantto learn more about stroke
nutrition?
Anything AFib, we got youcovered.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah, they do have a lot of stuff on their website.
We could have way more thanfour segments if we went over
everything on their website.
The most important ones are theheart attack and stroke
symptoms and other things thatwe'll be talking about in the
next coming weeks.
I do encourage you to go online, check everything out, have
these memorized, even if it'sjust one or two things, and
(12:51):
again, please call 9-1-1.
With any sign or symptom ofanything, please call 9-1-1.
They will be happy to come outand check you out and take care
of you.
So, ms Jennifer, did we missanything?
That covers it?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
And just we'll get a chance to go into this in more
detail but know your healthhistory.
Know your family history.
Know your numbers If it's beena while since you've seen your
doctor go and get your annualphysical.
Know your baseline.
Know your normal, so that whensomething abnormal like perhaps
(13:24):
warning signs of a heart attackor stroke show up, you know that
this isn't something youregularly deal with.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That is something you do need to know.
That is important.
It's important to also knowyour medications, as well.
Have them out, have them wherethe medics can come in and see
them, have everything there and,like she said, know your
numbers, know what's normal.
That's all really goodinformation to have when you
call 911.
I hope you learned a lot today.
This subject is very near anddear to my heart, to me and to
(13:52):
Ms Jennifer.
We just really want to get thisinformation out there and get
you to understand that there areways.
It may be the leading cause ofdeath, but there are ways that
you can prevent that and Icannot get over that stroke was
the fifth leading cause of death.
There's a ways if you recognizethe symptoms right away, there
are ways that they can reversethe symptoms.
(14:12):
There are ways that they canminimize the symptoms.
So that is why it is soimportant to know the signs and
symptoms of a heart attack and astroke.
Tell us how we can be a littleheart healthy.
What can we do?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Oh, this is such a fun topic for me and you know
this is this is really personalbecause I think prevention is so
, so important.
So the American HeartAssociation kind of categorizes
these eight most importantthings, we call them life's
essential eight and these arekind of the key measures for
improving and maintaining goodcardiovascular health.
(14:45):
So better cardiovascular healthhelps lower the risk that's the
goal here Prevent and lower therisk for heart disease, stroke
and any other major healthproblems.
So we're going to talk aboutthese eight things in two groups
.
We're going to talk about ourhealth behaviors and our health
factors.
So for our health behaviors, sothink about the things you can
(15:06):
control, the things you canchange, that's eating better,
being more active, quittingtobacco and getting healthy
sleep.
And then our health factors aremanaging your weight, control
cholesterol, manage blood sugarand manage blood pressure.
Should we?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
jump into nutrition first.
I'm sitting here thinking Ineed to do a little bit better
with my health.
Some of these behaviors I'mlike, yep, that's me.
Factors yep, that's me.
Yeah, tell us some ways that wecan eat a little better.
And I need to make sure that Ido this.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So we just want to think about making smart choices
and swaps to build an overallhealthy eating style right?
The things we do more oftenmatter a lot more than the
things we do on occasion.
We want to watch our caloriesand watch our portions, make
sure they're appropriate for ourage and our size and our height
.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
So in other words, we can't fill the plate up.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
It depends, but let's think about the things we can
maybe add more of to our eatingpattern.
Okay, can?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
we fill the plate up with a lot of salad, but not all
the potato salad and mac andcheese.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Yeah, so the distribution of the foods we eat
definitely have an impact on orover our health.
We want to think about addingmore vegetables, fruits, whole
grains, beans, legumes, nuts,plant-based proteins, lean
animal proteins, skinlesspoultry, fish, seafood.
Those are the things we want toemphasize the most.
Now, on the flip side, what arethe things to maybe limit or
(16:29):
avoid?
Oh, this is going to be thehard part, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Yeah, I'm already cringing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
It is for some people , but it can also be the
simplest place to start for alot of folks.
Think about limiting oursweetened drinks, alcohol,
sodium, red and processed meats,refined carbohydrates, maybe
our full fat dairy.
We can reduce highly processedfoods and some tropical oils
like coconut and palm oil.
And then also pretty strictlyavoid trans fat and partially
(16:55):
hydrogenated oils.
Those are mostly found in, likeyour commercial baked goods and
your fried foods.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
All the good food.
It's okay, because I want tolive a little bit longer.
I want to do a lot more things.
God has a plan for me.
I can't do it if I'm not goingto eat right and I'm going to
make myself sick.
So I'm good with enjoying someextra vegetables, and I already
like fish.
There you go.
So I'm already one step ahead.
I gave up my sodas for a year.
(17:21):
I'm done with them.
I don't do them anymore.
I'm getting there.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Yeah, and I think that's such a key thing to
remember Small changes over timereally make big impact.
So finding what is that thingthat's achievable probably not
going to overhaul your wholediet in a day and sustain it but
if gradually, over time, youeliminated sugar, sweet and
sodas and then, after you feltlike you were sustaining that
(17:46):
well, you swapped out some ofyour protein food choices or
some of your snack choices forfruits and vegetables, it really
makes a big impact over time.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I think if you find something that you really like
and try some of these things,it's like, wow, these taste
really good.
Yeah, you never know.
And there's so many hearthealthy ways to cook these
things and you can try differentrecipes, so there's all kinds
of ways that you can take all ofthese and try to live a little
bit healthier and like itenjoyable yeah, make it
(18:14):
enjoyable.
Yeah, have a little fun timewhen you're cooking.
Just have a little bit of funtime of like cooking together,
chopping the vegetables together, kind of making it like, even
with your children.
Make it like a little game.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Absolutely.
The American Heart Associationhas endless healthy recipes at
heartorg, so check that out tooif you need more recipes.
There's also great informationon how to read and understand
our food labels so that we canmake healthier choices.
We can help compare product toproduct and maybe choose
products that have lower amountsof sodium, saturated fat and
added sugar, so have loweramounts of sodium, saturated fat
(18:45):
and added sugar.
So getting an understanding ofwhat that food label means and
how to make smart consumerchoices is also really key to
driving our health outcomes.
So read those labels.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yes, your life depends on it.
It could I mean seriously.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah.
So then that leads us toanother key part of a healthy
heart is being physically activeand kind of what some
guidelines are around that.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
See, that's my problem I have no energy, but I
would have energy if I would getmore active.
I need to get active is what Ineed to do.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Action precedes motivation.
Yeah, there you go, I just need.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, I'm going to get the energy if I get up and
just do things.
That's going to give me theenergy to keep going.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
And that goes back to that kind of small, attainable
goal right.
So maybe it is a 10 minutelunch break that over time you
can build the intensity or theduration of how long you walk
for.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I mean we can walk to the post office and back from
work.
Yeah, that's just maybe a 10minute walk.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
There from work.
Yeah, that's just maybe a 10minute walk.
There you go when you want toaim for about two and a half
hours of moderate physicalactivity a week, or 75 minutes
of vigorous activity.
For kids that should be 60minutes a day.
So this I think we get reallycaught up about.
It has to be at a gym or it hasto be, so technical.
It doesn't Just move your bodyto the point where your
heartbeat elevates and yourbreathing rate elevates, but you
(20:09):
can still carry a conversationif you needed to.
That's kind of what we'relooking for with moderate
physical activity.
So about two and a half hours aweek and, like I said, start
small and over time, increaseyour activity, increase your
intensity, try new things.
Just get your heart pumping.
It's so important.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
One of the things that I do now well, I do it
every time is when I'm brushingmy teeth, I do squats, Love that
.
And when I'm waiting at themicrowave, I, instead of going
to sit back down in my chair, Iam doing marches like marching
in place.
That's perfect.
I'm doing things like that.
I might be cleaning the kitchentable off or just something
(20:46):
that I'm still active.
I'm not just sitting on thechair waiting for my food to get
done, or even when it's in anoven, I'm still making myself do
stuff because my thoughtprocess is I'm up already.
I don't want to go getcomfortable and then turn around
in like 30 minutes and I haveto get back up again.
Might as well.
(21:11):
Just stay active.
You get too comfortable and youdon't get up.
Period.
I've been there.
There are way too many showsout there that you can binge
watch.
So even if you binge watchshows, get up between episodes
there.
You go, get up between episodesand move, do a little march, do
a little jog in place, dosomething like she's saying the
little things and we can thinkof it as a spectrum right.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
On one end we have increasing movement throughout
the day, so things like marchingin place while the microwave is
running, increasing physicalactivity.
So maybe that's parking furtheraway or taking the stairs or
instead of the elevator, andthen like more organized
exercise.
So all along the spectrum isgreat to think about getting
towards that.
Two and a half hours minimumper week.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Small steps can lead to bigger steps, absolutely, and
that goes with food, your foodchoices and what you're limiting
and exercise.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Absolutely.
It's very interesting to seethe secular effect of when I eat
better, I feel more energizedto move more.
Yes, when I move more, I feelmore inspired to make better
food choices.
When I sleep better, I get moreenergy to go to the gym or
whatever it is, so that kind ofleads us to healthy sleep.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
That's a struggle for some people, yes, truly.
That's truly a struggle forsome people.
It is yes, truly.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
That's truly a struggle.
For some people it is, and asbest as we can we are adults
want to aim for seven to ninehours of sleep each night.
Adequate sleep promotes healing.
Improved brain function reducesour risk for cardiovascular
disease, so something like bloodpressure or even diabetes.
Limiting screen time before bedcan really help.
Also, having a consistentbedtime and wake time every day.
(22:46):
That means, regardless of ifit's a weekday or if it's a
weekend, we go to bed and wewake up at the same time every
day.
Being physically active, havinghealthy coping skills for
stress that's pretty important,that's a challenge.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
It is Everybody's stressed.
It can be one little thing orone huge thing.
Stress is always going to bearound, so we do need to figure
out ways to cope with stress,and one of them is exercise.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
That's a great one, Again, thinking about preventing
a heart attack, preventingcardiovascular disease.
You know we've talked aboutnutrition, physical activity,
sleep habits and then anotherreally key preventable factor is
tobacco use.
The key for quitting tobaccothat includes cigarettes,
(23:30):
e-cigarettes, vaping, anynicotine products is make a plan
.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yep Got to get a mindset.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Absolutely.
Make a plan, set a quit datewithin the next seven days, and
there's steps to kind of do this, to set you up for success.
We want to.
Number one set a quit datewithin the next seven days and
there's steps to kind of to thisto set you up for success.
We want to.
Number one set a quit datewithin the next seven days.
Number two choose a method,whether it's cold turkey or
gradually.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I had a friend who did cold turkey and everybody
was like this ain't gonna workfor you, this ain't gonna work.
He had three rough days butthen after that he hadn't
touched a tobacco product sincehe has been like tobacco free
for over 40 years oh my goodness.
And the reducing risk is so keythere I bet he saw his blood
pressure improve and so manythings improve he actually said
(24:18):
that he was actually able tobreathe a little better, like
take deeper breaths.
He could do a little bit morewalking without being out of
breath.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So it's the trickle effect right, yes.
So one healthy habit leading toanother one?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yes, but if you can't quit cold turkey, you can quit
gradually.
There are, I know, people whohave quit gradually and have
been successful.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
And that leads us to kind of point number four, which
is decide.
Decide if you need help from ahealthcare professional,
nicotine replacement ormedications to help you quit.
And then, number five, preparefor your quit date.
How are you going to cope withcravings?
How are you going to cope withurges?
Who are the people in yoursupport system that need to know
(24:57):
that you're trying to quit andcan support you?
And then, lastly, quit on yourquit date.
Just stop right then and there.
Yeah, with your plan, with yourpeople, with all the preparing
you've done to help you besuccessful.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, just hey, pick a date and you're done, we're
done.
Yeah, my friend, I was one ofhis people, and when he would
like crave some tobacco and I'dbe like, come on, let's go for a
walk, I would direct hismindset to something else.
Distraction, distract him.
Yes, I would distract him.
A lot of times we'd go for awalk.
Now it was a walk around aparking lot, but we still went
(25:32):
for a walk and by the time wewere done and we had our little
talk about whatever, he was goodto go.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
And think about you know that could have been a, a
trigger he was having or an urgeand how just those simple kind
of really evidence-basedstrategies go a long way when
you have the support in place.
So again, thinking about, whenwe think about life's essential
eight.
The first part of it is thosehealth behaviors, those things
we kind of have control overEating well, moving our bodies,
(26:00):
sleeping, getting adequate sleepand quitting tobacco.
And then the other half of itreally is those health getting
adequate sleep and quittingtobacco.
And then the other half of itreally is those health factors.
So managing your weight,controlling cholesterol,
managing your blood sugar andmanaging your blood pressure
this is a conversation with youand your healthcare provider.
Yes, ideally we're looking for aBMI under 25 to manage weight.
We're looking for certain totalcholesterol and LDL or bad
(26:23):
cholesterol.
We're looking for a goal bloodsugar.
We're looking for a goal bloodpressure and there's general
recommendations out there.
We're not going to go into thattoday because those things are
so individualized and the keyhere is have a plan to what
those numbers should be withyour healthcare provider, so
that means you see them at aminimum yearly.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
That's important because you can eat, you can eat
healthy, you can exercise, youcan do all kinds of these things
and you can still have highblood pressure.
Yeah, it can be through geneticfactors, something you can't
even control.
High cholesterol can be agenetic thing that you may not
be able to control unless youtalk to your doctor.
You may have to get on meds.
At least when you go see yourdoctor, you know your numbers,
(27:04):
you know what you have to workon.
He's there to hopefully he'sthere to encourage you to do
better for your health, yeah,and it's just be.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Think of it as just a teammate on your health journey
.
You know you're doing your partwith your nutrition and your
physical activity and they'redoing their part with adjusting
your medications as needed,ordering certain labs that you
might need because of your ownindividual risk and health
history.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Yeah, and your doctors have resources that they
can send you to.
They can send you to anutritionist.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
If you need to get specialty care from, like an
endocrinologist or acardiologist, you know someone
who can look at it through theirspecialty lens.
So just keep those things inmind when we talk about
preventing cardiovasculardisease our behaviors and our
health factors.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
So, jennifer, can you tell us where we can go to get
that information?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yes, you can go to wwwheartorg slash life's eight
to learn more about Life'sEssentials Eight.
We even have Life Essentials 8for kids oh cool.
And a little quiz you can do tofigure out what your heart
score is and get somepersonalized advice based on
(28:16):
your own health behaviors andhealth factors.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And don't forget that at wwwheartorg you can get some
of those recipes.
I looked up some of thoserecipes and they sound really
delicious.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
So you can get all this information on their
website.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Yep, that's wwwheartorg.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
February is heart health month for the American
Heart Association, and we justwant you to know the signs and
symptoms of heart attack andstroke so you can get some help
right away.
We want you to learn how tolive a healthy lifestyle, do
some exercise, eat a littlebetter and avoid certain things.
We want you to do all this tohopefully help you to have a
healthier lifestyle, to also nothave you suffer a sudden
(28:59):
cardiac arrest or suffer a heartattack or stroke.
Cardiovascular disease is thenumber one cause of death, so I
just wanted to let you listenersknow today that this may be a
sensitive subject to some people.
We are going to be talking aboutsudden cardiac arrest that can
lead to death.
So we understand that somepeople may not want to hear this
and that is why I'm letting youknow ahead of time, just in
(29:21):
case.
So I hope you can listen andhope you can understand, so that
you know, in the possibility ofsomething happens in the future
, that there may be somethingthat someone can do.
So today we're going to go overwhat to do when someone you
love, or maybe a bystander,suffers from a cardiac emergency
, and why it is so important forthat early and quick
intervention.
Explain sudden cardiac arrestto us.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Yes.
So for National Heart Month inFebruary, we're continuing our
heart series and today we'retalking about sudden cardiac
arrest.
This is different than a heartattack, which is more of a
blockage, or maybe think of itas a plumbing issue.
Sudden cardiac arrest is moreof an electrical failure in the
heart that causes an irregularheartbeat.
(30:05):
So then the heart can't pumpblood to the brain, the lungs
and other organs and this causesa person to lose consciousness
and a pulse and the person candie if they do not receive help
immediately.
So if you see a teen or adultcollapse, immediately call 911
and start hands-only CPR ifyou've identified that that
(30:26):
person is not conscious orresponsive.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
You talked about hands-only CPR.
How do they learn how to dothat?
Speaker 3 (30:32):
So hands-only CPR is exactly how it sounds.
It's doing the chestcompressions only without
breaths, and it's very effective.
According to the American HeartAssociation, about 90% of
people who suffer a cardiacarrest outside of the hospital
they die.
And hands-only CPR can double ortriple a person's chance of
(30:54):
survival, so that's why we wantto do it immediately.
But unfortunately, what we'reseeing nationwide is only about
40% of people who experience acardiac arrest receive the
immediate help they need beforeprofessional help arrives.
Think about that Four out of 10people 40% are not getting the
immediate help they need.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Why do you think this is?
Do you think people?
Just don't understand how to doit Do.
They just are kind of scared todo it Fear is a big factor.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
So in a nationwide online survey that the American
Heart Association did, peoplecommented on why they didn't
perform CPR on someone incardiac arrest despite having
the opportunity to do so, andthe answers were kind of
alarming.
One they were afraid of legalramifications, afraid they might
hurt the person, felt cpr wastoo complicated, didn't feel
(31:45):
confident performing the steps,so maybe they've never had any
training whatsoever on cpr andthey didn't want to give the
rescue breath.
So that's why the americanheart association is on this
mission to create what we call anation of lifesavers and that's
making sure at least one personin every household knows how to
(32:07):
perform hands-only CPR.
And that's step one calling 911.
And step two pushing hard andfast in the center of the chest.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I will also like to throw in I used to be a CPR
instructor that they offerclasses that you can take that
are more in-depth and explain awhole lot more and can show you
a lot more things.
But until you take thoseclasses, or if you don't have an
opportunity this right here isso easy to do Call 911 and push
hard and fast in the center ofthe chest.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Yes, and that's at 100 to 120 beats per minute.
You can go to wwwheartorg slashCPR and watch some videos on how
to do it, and we also have agreat playlist of songs that are
the same beat as the CPR tempo,so that you kind of have a
reference point if you are everin a situation where you're
(32:57):
doing chest compressions onsomeone who's unconscious and
also a telecommunicator whenyou're on the phone with 911,
they'll be able to coach you inthe steps to do hands-only CPR
and probably encourage you tocount out loud so we know you're
doing it at the correct tempo.
But Wendy makes a superimportant point is yes, it's
(33:17):
great to be certified in CPR ifthat's something required for
your job or whatever, or justsomething you want to do, but
you do not have to be certifiedin CPR to try and save a life,
and I also encourage children.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
people think children can't do a whole lot of things,
but even an eight-year-old canpush hard and fast on a chest.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, so if you need to alternate if you're in a
situation where you have a longresponse time from EMS, which is
possible.
Right, it's an unfortunatereality we face.
Having someone to alternatedoing chest compressions is
great.
Or even a child can have a rolein calling 911.
Exactly.
Maybe they can share theiraddress, maybe they can share
(34:00):
points on how to find the victim.
Like we're in the backyard I'llmeet you at the front Everyone
can kind of play the role, andwe just hope that this is a
skill you never have to use, butknow that it's so important to
learn in case you're ever inthis situation.
Sudden cardiac arrest does notdiscriminate If you are young,
old, black, white, whatever itcan affect anyone at any time
(34:24):
and anywhere.
Anywhere.
Yeah and that's a good point tomention is 70% of
out-of-hospital cardiac arrestshappen at home.
I don't know about you, Wendy,but when I think about who's in
my home, I'm saving the life ofsomeone I love deeply.
Exactly that could be my husbandor my daughter or a parent or a
child or a sibling.
(34:44):
So that's why we want to makesure that at least one person in
every household knows how toperform at least hands-only CPR,
and then that kind of gets usinto.
Well, what about AEDs?
Right, If it's not at home, ifit's in a public place?
Speaker 2 (35:00):
That is very important.
I do want to point outsomething I think is kind of
important.
If you're by yourself and youwitness a cardiac arrest in your
home, your loved one, bystander, friend, neighbor, call 9-1-1,
put the phone on speaker, set itbeside you, yes, and do the
chest compressions yep, it canbe done.
In my household we had a plan.
I knew who can call 9-1-1 andwho couldn't.
(35:21):
You know, with my children onetalked really fast yeah, but but
have a plan, have a plan of whocan call who can do the chest
compressions if you, if youabsolutely physically cannot.
And have a plan.
Have the medications ready,have their history ready, have
all that stuff ready so as soonas the medics get there, they
can take over and get all theinformation they need and get
(35:41):
them on the road.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Absolutely.
And if you ever get a chancewhether it's through work or
church or your personal clubs orhobbies to get your hands on a
practice mannequin, reach out toyour local American Heart
Association and see if that'ssomething they can do.
Do a demonstration they can do.
Do a demonstration.
(36:03):
If, for some reason, you'rejust looking for education and
demonstrations versus beingcertified in CPR, that's
something that the AmericanHeart Association can provide.
So work with your local marketto see if that's something they
could do Our church.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
One good idea is we had several people at our church
to take a CPR class on aSaturday.
It's four hours, it don't takeyou long and, again, you do not
have to be certified.
I'm going to stress that.
But if you want to be, if youwant to learn more and
understand more of how it works,we had about 15 people they did
.
It's a class on Saturday, ittook four hours, and so now we
(36:32):
have 15 people in our churchthat know how to do CPR and know
how to do take care of someonein an emergency.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
And that goes to community preparedness, right,
that goes into creating aculture where my town, my
municipality, my congregation,whatever it is, is prepared to
act in an emergency.
So having something like acardiac emergency response plan
that maybe involves certain teammembers from that organization
(36:59):
who are trained in hand-only CPR, who have a written plan.
Where's the AED?
Where's it located?
Is it marked?
Is it public, as opposed tobehind a locked door where you
can't access it and just kind ofdrive home the point that AEDs
are meant for people like me andyou to be able to use.
(37:20):
They're really simple, they'remeant for the general public,
they're not meant just for ahealthcare professional.
So an AED is a automatedexternal defibrillator and it
delivers a electric shockthrough the chest to the heart
when it detects an abnormalrhythm and then it changes that
rhythm back to normal, andthat's a super important part of
(37:41):
saving someone's life during acardiac arrest.
So if you are in a place wherethere is an AED, you want to do
CPR combined with using an AEDto provide the best chance of
survival, and the AED tells youexactly how to use it.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
It prompts you.
All you have to do is hit thebutton to turn it on and it
tells you every single step thatyou need to do.
We actually we have one in ourchurch.
We actually had a cardiac eventto happen in our church several
years ago, when we did not havean AED, but people trained in
CPR at that time.
She is still here with us today.
Because of that, we have an AEDnow.
(38:20):
We have it right there.
It's between the bathrooms.
Right there, everybody knowswhere it is and you just you run
and get it and use it, turn iton and go from there.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
And that's so important to note is that it's
public, yes, and it's available,and it's meant for any
bystander to grab right.
We want to create that normthat the business owner has to
be the one to grab it, or thehealth ministry council, or the
nurse, or whoever it's meant forany general public person.
(38:49):
Yes, and like Wendy said, wewant to place any fear around it
.
It's not going to deliver ashock if one's not needed.
Right so it is that machine'sjob to do the detecting and do
the decision making.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
It is.
It takes away all the guesswork.
There's no guesswork.
You just, I promise you.
You turn it on.
You listen to the steps.
It tells you where to place thepads that you're going to need.
It tells you where to placethose.
It tells you how to place those.
It knows when to give a shockor not and it'll say whether
shock advised or shock notadvised.
And it'll say whether shockadvised or shock not advised.
And if it is a shock advised,then you click the button.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Right, yeah.
So super simple.
We want to get people, you knowone getting in a mindset of
locating it when they're out inpublic.
I mean, I work for the American.
Heart.
Association.
So it's like second nature forme to go to the Children's
Museum and be like, oh, there'sthe AED Good.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
One of their goals is to get AEDs everywhere.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
by the way, yes yes, and you know, even outdoors,
right?
Yes, If your church closes andlocks its doors at, let's say, 5
pm and someone's on the soccerfield or the playground and has
a cardiac arrest, you're missinga chance to save a life.
So that's a call to action.
To keep in mind is what's thebest placement option for your
(40:00):
AED Mm keep in mind is what'sthe best placement option for
your.
AED.
Is there a maintenance log onit, because those pads expire?
They do expire.
They need to be replaced.
Yes, so who's responsible formaintaining that?
Have you done a drill?
Have you coordinated with yourlocal county EMS?
And said hey, we need topractice this.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
Because I guarantee it's going to be a hot mess the
first time you do it, becauseI've been a part of drills so
you kind of want to work thosekinks out and getting hands on a
practice mannequin gettinghands on a like training AED is
really helpful and to makingsure the process is smooth and
effective and life-saving.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
I also want to point out that this is AEDs are very
important to grab and use, butdo not forget to call 9-1-1.
That's right, there is alwayssomebody.
You need to look at them andsay you need to call 9-1-1,
because everybody's runningaround and you think someone's
calling 9-1-1 but they're not.
But somebody else may be, butthey're not, so nobody's calling
(40:56):
9-1-1.
Please make sure you look atone person directly, have it set
up and say you call 911 yeah,or say you and the red shirt
with the black glasses exactly911 yes specific instructions,
so no one's wondering who's theone going to call 911.
So that's a good idea, never,never thought about that yeah,
and again, this is.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
I want to also drive home that this applies to teens
and adults.
Children reasons they go intosudden cardiac arrest is more
respiratory related, andchildren typically need the
rescue breaths.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
So this applies to teens and adults.
Again, step one call 911.
Step two push hard and fast inthe center of the chest until
help arrives and thoseprofessionals take over.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Yeah, they do have.
This is for children and teensand adults.
They have some specifically forinfants because the pads are
smaller and they go in differentplaces it goes in the front of
the chest and on the back, soit's a little bit different with
an infant.
If you're capable, if you'reable like your church I'm
thinking of churches If you'recapable of having both of them,
you can have the one for theinfant in the nursery and it's
(42:03):
like right there, yeah, and it'sthe same concept.
You get it, you turn it on andthere you go.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Definitely.
And that's like what's the callto action in all of this right,
right?
So what are some things yourchurch, your business, your
household, whatever can do tocreate this culture of
preparedness?
Or, you know, maybe you're justa lifesaver in waiting, you
know, and that's?
Does your organization have anAED?
Is it accessible and properlymaintained?
(42:30):
Do you at a minimum knowhands-only CPR?
Or are you someone who needs tobe certified in CPR and take a
local class or something how toidentify a cardiac emergency and
how to respond quickly?
Because that's what mattersmost If we're going to change
that.
Only 10% survive.
(42:52):
We got to act fast and we gotto act correctly and we have to
make it a community thing.
Exactly has to be a bigger issue.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Exactly.
Yes, I would like to point outthat we want it to work.
I have seen it where it workedright away, but sometimes it may
not.
At least you know you tried.
At least you know you got inthere and you did what you can
do, and that's the best thing.
That's because you don't know.
If you don't try, you don'tknow how the outcome is going to
(43:23):
be.
So, that one split decision ofyes or no, whether or not I
should do this, could be whetheror not they survive or not.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
And that's where a 911 telecommunicator can give
you some guidance on how youshould respond in this situation
.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
They won't leave you hanging.
They will be with you everystep of the way.
They tell you everything thatyou need to do.
They keep you calm, because insome points, it's hard to stay
calm in those situations.
Yeah, so they're your calmingvoice.
That's why it's so important tocall 9-1-1 very first thing.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
Yeah, Let let the professionals do their job.
But also, you know, if you arean organization like a church,
practice it.
Yes, have a cardiac emergencyresponse plan.
I did not even think about that, do some drills.
Yes, you know that's somethingyour local American Heart
Association market can help youdo.
If you have an AED, create thatcardiac emergency response plan
(44:15):
.
Help you organize a drill sothat you feel confident to act
in an emergency.
And I'd also like to notechurches aren't just places of
worship.
They can be polling sites,that's true.
They can have athletic events.
Yes, they can have othercommunity events like food
pantries that bring in othercommunity members.
So you're looking out for thewhole community.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
You're not just getting it for your congregation
.
You can be getting it foranyone that is using your church
at that time.
Absolutely.
Just remember CPR can double ortriple a person's chance of
survival.
That's just getting in there.
And again, just the two-stepcall 911 and push hard and fast
in the center of the chest.
That's still better than notknowing what to do and not doing
(44:56):
anything.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
Absolutely, and to learn more information you can
go to wwwheartorg slash CPR towatch some tutorials and videos,
learn how to do hands-only CPRand apply an AED, or find a
local course near you to becertified in CPR.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
We have learned a lot from the American Heart
Association.
We have learned the signs andsymptoms of a heart attack and
stroke, a lot of ways that wecan maintain some heart health
and be healthy, and I'm stillworking on that, but I'm going
to do it now.
We understand what happens ifsomeone were to be in an
emergency situation wherethey're unresponsive, they're
not talking and a possibility ofnot having a heartbeat at that
(45:35):
time.
It is real important to knowwhat to do in these situations,
and the first thing thing youwant to do again call 911 and
don't panic.
Just take one step at a time.
It's going to be okay.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
Yeah, you did your part.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So thank you so much for being here Again.
Remember that February is.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
National Heart Month, heartorg has a wealth of
resources if you're looking forrecipes, physical activity
advice, stress management advice, just to learn more, maybe,
about the conditions you manage,or to even get connected to
support groups or ways to beinvolved in the community that
drive good health outcomes sothat everyone gets a chance for
(46:15):
a longer, healthier life.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
Thank you, Jennifer.
You summed that up.
I don't even have to sayanything else.
Speaker 3 (46:21):
That was perfect.
Thank you so much for having me, Wendy.
It's a joy to be here.
Speaker 4 (46:25):
Thanks for listening to the Quirks, bumps and Bruises
podcast with Candy and Melody.
If you enjoyed the show, pleasetake a moment to subscribe,
rate and share the podcast.
You can learn more at joyfmorg.
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