June 30, 2025 • 30 mins
"Sponsored by the Peyton Walker Foundation, the 4-Minute City program being offered in Dauphin County, greatly reduces the response time for those going into cardiac arrest." Peytonwalker.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I am Sylvia Moss. This is in Sight, a
presentation of iHeartMedia where we really do care about our
local communities and all our listeners who live here. Nobody
really knows why some of us face terrible tragedies in
our lives, the worst being the loss of a child.
Every single day you'll live through that terrible pain for
which there is no relief, knowing that somehow, some way,
(00:22):
some way, you gotta You have no choice, You got
to get through it and go on. This November, it's
going to be twelve years that Julie Walker lost your
beautiful and amazing daughter Peyton to sudden cardiac arrest. At
the time, Peyton was nineteen years old and studying to
be a physician's assistant at King's College in Wilkesbarre. Understandably,
it took Julie several weeks to go through Peyton's clothing
(00:44):
that she'd been wearing at the time of her death.
When she did, Julie found Peyton's T shirt that had
printed on it these words what we do for ourselves
dies with us. What we do for others and the
world remains and is immortal. Gives us insight into the
hearts of both Peyton.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Walker and her mom.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Through her endless grief and working a very demanding full
time job, Julie founded the Peyton Walker Foundation to honor
Peyton and to do all that she could to make
sure that other parents just like you who are listening
to this program wouldn't have to face what she did
with the loss of your child because of sudden cardiac arrest.
My dear, dear Julie. Twelve years. Holy, don't it It
(01:27):
seems like it seems like it was so long ago,
and yet it seems like yesterday.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I know.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Just I don't even like to say that it's been
twelve years because it seems like, okay, well you should
be over this now, let's move on. You know, I
just still see me it's still yesterday. So, yeah, twelve
years is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Well, you know what, from what I know about you,
you owned your own, big time, big time events company
for major companies, and you're all over the world. But
prior to Peyton's passing, you really didn't. I mean, you
have a heart condition, it's in the family, but you
didn't know that much about the medfield, dig about issues,
medicine stuff.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Yeah, no, I mean, that's what I have been thrust
into this world and become a subject matter expert on
all things sudden cardiac arrest. And this is not something
I wanted to do or envisioned ever having to do.
But you know, life dealt me this hand, and this
is what we've done since we lost Peyton.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
And boy, oh boy, oh boy, have you done an
awesome job. Well how did you decide you were going
to focus? Of course it will be cardiac arrest, but
what areas? I guess you had to do an awful
lot of research to find out what was going on?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Right, Well, we did, and after we lost Peyton, we
just knew we had to do something to prevent other
moms and dads and brothers and sisters from suffering the
devastating loss of losing a sibling or a child. And
I started doing some research and really understanding what is
sudden cardiac arrest, what causes it, how can we prevent,
how can we make the biggest impact?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
And we really came up.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
With our three pillars of service that we thought could
have the biggest impact and make a difference. And once
we came up with three pillars, it really has been
the foundation for what we have decided to do over
the last twelve years. I mean, we're constantly evolving and
growing far beyond anything still than I ever could have imagined.
I cannot believe where we are today versus where we
(03:13):
are where we were in twenty thirteen after losing Peyton.
It's been absolutely incredible, and it's truly a labor of love.
It's been a community project. It has taken the work
of so many people and businesses and community partners to
make this all work.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I want to talk about everything you've done and what
you needs continue to be. But first of all, let's
start real basic. I don't think a lot of people
when they think a person died of a sudden cardiac arrest,
that's a heart attack. No, no, no, no, no, Julie, explain
it in normal people terms.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Right, So we try to break it down and make
it as simple as possible.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Cardiac arrest is.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
An electrical problem, right, heart attack plumbing problem two completely
different things. And kids typically don't have plumbing problems. They're
too young. They're not going to have that build up
of plaque and fat in the arteries and veins around
the heart. So a sudden Cardiac arrest is like a
power outage. So just imagine our hearts are actually controlled
by an electrical current. So imagine somebody just turning off
(04:11):
that light switch and pulling the plug. There's no power
going to that heart anymore. So that means there's no
blood being circulated in your body. Your brain is not
being fed blood and oxygen, your heart and lungs are
not being properly nourished. So cardiac arrest is completely different
than a heart attack. When someone as cardiac arrest, they
are basically dead immediately, and you've got just a few
(04:33):
minutes to restore life to that person. Now, imagine someone
having a heart attack, you know, just you can visualize it.
Somebody you know might be sweating or nauseous or having
the chest pain. They're conscious, they're having the signs and symptoms,
they can talk, and you know, okay, maybe we need
to get you to the hospital.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Something's not right.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
So you've got a little bit of time when someone's
having a heart attack and experiencing those symptoms. But again,
when someone's in cardiac arrest, as soon as that heart's
stops beating, their dead, and you've got to bring them
back to life.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Somehow.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I don't think people understand that that's what it's all about.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
What can trigger it?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Oh my gosh, there's so many different things. So it
could be a genetic issue, which is what Peyton has,
and we have in our family a genetic heart condition.
It could be like DeMar Hamlin, you know, an NFL
player who got hit in the chest. That's called commodial cordis.
So you get hit in the chest that just the
right or wrong moment, and it interrupts that heart rhythm,
(05:29):
that electrical current, and then it causes the heart to
go into cardiac arrest. It could be a virus, so
you could have some inflammation around the heart that causes
this to happen. And there's also other things that we're
looking at.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Stimulants, Ah, those caffeine drinks.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Caffeine drinks, and so there was a huge lawsuit against
a major retail food and beverage retailer in our country
serving you know, the charged lemonades which are now removed
from their menu. The family won a major, major lawsuit.
Their daughter drank it and went into cardiac or not
understanding how much caffeine was in it. So it could
be the supplements. Think about what kids are you know,
(06:05):
taking before the pre workouts. Do they know what they're
putting in their bodies? So it's really scary. You know,
a lot of that stuff is not regulated by the FDA.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
What's in it? What you know?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
It says natural ingredients will define that, So it could.
There's so many different causes that could lead to cardiac
arrest and so we really take a hard angle at
trying to get to the bottom of the things that
we can control. And we can understand.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
When you first start coming in here years ago, you
were saying that it was the number one killer of
student athletes. Now it's it's not just student athletes, is it.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Well, that's correct, so we know it does not discriminate
between athletes and non athletes. So we're losing so many
kids to sudden cardiac arrests. They don't all make the headlines.
They don't all make the national news. That those who
are athletes and maybe have a cardiac arrest on the
football field or on the basketball court, they're more likely
to make the news. It's you know, more people witness it.
(07:01):
There's phones around cameras and take pictures. But think that
there's a lot of kids that maybe go to bed
at night and never wake up in the morning, or
they lay down to take a nap, never wake up,
or I know families who you know, their son was
in the shower and he had a cardiac arrest and collapsed.
So it does not discriminate. It can happen to an
athlete or a non athlete. So that's why we always
encourage when we get into talking about heart screenings, screen
(07:24):
every heart because any kid could be susceptible to having
cardiac arrest.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
You know, when people talk and I've heard people say this,
especially when it involves young athletes, like they say, well,
then why don't they Why didn't they know that the
kid had a heart problem before we start playing football.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, great questions.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So that is one of the things you tacked years
ago and it's still going on.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Right, So when a kid, think about this.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
When a kid gets a sports physical, you know they're
checking for they're getting height, weight, blood pressure, they're checking
some other symptoms that might be might be present, but
they're not given the kid an electric cardiogram. So that
simple test could be the difference between life and death.
When we're talking about our student athletes, and it's so important.
(08:10):
It's such a you know, it's a pain free test,
it's very inexpensive, and it can really it can tell
so much about what's going on. Remember how I said
the herd is controlled by that electrical current, So that
electrical test really can tell physicians what's going on inside
of kid's heart. So sports physicals do not include the
electric cardiogram. We're basically the only thing we do is
listen for heart murmurs when kids get their sports physicals,
(08:32):
and a heart murmur typically is not going to cause
sudden cardiac arrest or sudden death. So we really need
to rethink how we're addressing this. And you know, we're
super excited because in Florida they just passed legislation. The
Governor DeSantis just signed this. Any kid participating in high
school sports in the state of Florida is now required
to have an electric cardigram. I get goosebumps saying that
(08:54):
because that is game changing, wonderful, wonderful that we're finally
making some headway. I mean, there's so much any organizations
that have been fighting for this and advocating for this,
so it happened in Florida. We'll see if that legislation,
you know, can it spread and become the standard of
care that every kid participating in sports gets the EKG.
Now we've, like I said, it happens to kids who
(09:17):
are playing sports and not playing sports. But at least
if we can get the kids that are playing sports,
we get them covered.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That's a great start.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Well, you know, when you're back doing starting all this
one of the things that you I'm still I got
to tell my listeners. I talk about Julie Walker almost
every day. Julie, I swear to God because I'm blown
away by you.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
What you have accomplished.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
One of the things that you wanted to have as
far as the EKGs, you wanted that done, but it
wasn't able to become mandated. But you did something pretty
close with Peyton's law. Tell us about that, wasn't that?
Who was the rep that helped get was a senator?
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yes, that's right?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Pretty quick.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Yeah, I mean again, when we started the foundation, I
knew nothing about running and organizing a foundation. I knew
nothing about advocacy and getting laws passed.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And here we are.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
You know, I'm so proud to say that we were
able to get Peyton's Law passed in twenty twenty during
COVID and what was then one of the most potentially politically.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Father that's probably what this is.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Yeah, so Senator Reagan had kids, and he understood, he
understood this, so we went after getting Peyton's Law passed,
and it really you know, any kid that participates in
PIAA sports, they have to fill out the pre participation forms.
And on those forms, now it includes information about sudden
cardiac arrest. It includes signs and symptoms to watch for,
and it includes the information about why you should get
(10:44):
your kid screened, why you should get an electric cardiogram.
It doesn't require that your kid gets it, but at
least it gives you, the parent, and it gives the
athlete the information. Here's why this test could be a
life changer.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Do you have any idea how effect it is?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Amazing?
Speaker 4 (10:59):
I'm smiling as I'm say saying this, because I just
got a text from somebody who's filling out the paperwork
for their son and they circled where it mentions Peyton's Law,
And you know it's people are seeing it and recognizing
it and understanding that this is something that could be very,
very important to really pay attention to. So I constantly
hear from parents who are filling out that paperwork and
(11:19):
they're so grateful that that's on there. You know, there's
I'm sure there's thousands and thousands of parents every year
filling out the paperwork. They have no idea who Peyton is.
They just you know, check the boxes, finish it. But
locally people know Peyton's story and they're so grateful that
we got this work done.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's wonderful. Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, let's talk about like you were saying some of
the things you were doing. Tell us about the heart screens. Well,
you've done a lot of them, and the most popular
one probably is with the big thirty three.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, So again, you know, we're talking about how can
we find those hidden heart issues that could lead to
suden cardiac arrest, and that simple electric cardiogram test is
absolutely clutch to helping out with this. So we partner
with all the major healthcare systems in the area, go
out to different schools. We screen a couple hundred kids
at a time looking for these hidden hard issues that
(12:06):
could cause cardiac arrest. And over the years we have
screened thousands upon thousands of kids and the findings have
just been astounding. And we know we've sent you know,
because of what we have found. We've sent kids for surgery.
They've they've saved lives. They've had ablasions done, they've had
defibrillators implanted. They you know, some kids don't need that
surgical intervention, but they always play with an AED or defibrillator.
(12:30):
Now they always have an AED at practice and games.
They learn CPR, the families learned CPR. We have impacted
so many kids and families through our heart screening program.
I mean it is paid off. I can't even tell
you exponentially in the lives that we've saved. We've got
a couple of screenings coming up this fall. We just
(12:50):
announced one today. It's going to be in August. We'll
get more on our on our calendar and on our website.
So Peyton Walker dot org for more information. And they're free.
There's no cost, there's no catch. People say nothing's free,
nothing's free, there's always a catch.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
There's no catch.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
I as a mom, I want you to bring a
kid to the screening, get your kids screened, find out
if there's anything going on, and give you the information
that could change you know, the outcome of your future.
So there's no cost to participate. The whole thing takes
maybe an hour an hour and a half to go
through the program at one of these high schools. So
if you see information, bring your kid. You know what
(13:27):
frustrates me is people say, oh, I can't make it.
We have a soccer torn oh that weekend. And you
know that we put so much work into scheduling these
heart screenings. We bring in, you know, world class physicians.
Sometimes we work with Chopp from Philly. We have world
class physicians that come in. It is an enormous undertaking.
I say, drop everything and get your kid to one
(13:47):
of these screenings and get your kids heart screened.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Oh my gosh, how that's a no brainer to Yeah, absolutely,
thinking about the.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Most precious thing in your life.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Well, I want you to correct me if I'm wrong
with so you'll be doing that a lot to.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Okay, Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
The only way a child or any human being can
be saved from sudden CARDIOC not saved from buds. I
guess it is saved from sudden cardiac risk defibrillator or CPR.
Is it either or is it both?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Well, it depends, so that's a trick question. Okay, so both.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
So if you see somebody go down in cardiac arrest,
it's essential.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
The chain of.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Survival that we refer to is you need CPR, you
need AD and you need to get them to the hospital. Okay,
so call push shock. So call nine one one, push
hard and fast on the chest shock with an AED.
Sometimes you're not going to have access to an AED.
So at a minimum, at a minimum, get CPR, get
those chest compressions going, keep the blood circulating because you're
(14:51):
now acting as the pump. You're circulating that blood. You're
feeding the brain with oxygenated blood. Most people have about
twenty minutes of oxygenated blood in their body. So if
you can do CPR and keep that going, you're keeping
the organs alive at least. So you're you're that lifeline
for that person, and it's exhausting, so you need somebody
else to help you. Ideally, if we can get an
a ED on them. So what an AED an automated
(15:13):
external defibrillator an AED will you chock the heart? Shocks
the heart. So when you put an a ED on,
you put two patches on the person's chest. And what
happens is a shock goes from one of those patches
to the other. The heart's right in the middle of
those two patches, and boom, you want to shock that
heart like basically surprises the heart and like whoa, okay,
and time for me to wake up and get back
(15:34):
into a normal rhythm. So that's what happens when you
use an AED. That shock, you know, gets that heart
restarted and hopefully they can start. You know, that person's
on their way to recovery. If not, CPR is always
critically important. Just do chest compressions until EMS arrives.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Okay, CPR, an A D. They're all over the place
now you have no I thought you stop it stop.
You have a lot of them out there. Every time
I turn around.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
You have them in schools.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Every freaking school should have them.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
How about it?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
And well, we're working on it.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Okay, that's another that's another conversation, another law we're working
we'll talk.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
About that one. Okay, okay, But.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Do businesses contact you and say, hey, I want this
in my I heard what's going on with you? I
want How does it work? How are these all distributed?
Speaker 3 (16:23):
So a couple of things. We do it.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
We have a phenomenal AED donation program and we we
focused primarily on youth. So how can we best serve
youth and make sure they're protected. And we do youth
athletic organizations, youth organizations, nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Schools, some businesses.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Some businesses. Our priority is definitely nonprofit in youth. Okay,
So we want to make sure they get they get
first DIBs at getting the AEDs that we're able to donate.
And we're only able to donate as much as many
ADS that we have funding for. So if we don't
have the funding, Yeah, if we don't have the funding,
we can't get a EDS out there. And we you know,
we get a lot of requests for AD. We do
(17:00):
it and we do a review every quarter. So we
get AEDs, we donate them out throughout the community, and
we also work with schools. Now, think about a school
who maybe has ten sports teams. Every season, they're out
playing at all different.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Fields all over.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Not every field has an AED right there. You really
want to have an AD within four minutes of where
a cardiac arrest could occur. So if somebody is out
at a softball field far far away from the school building.
Is there an AED there, and then you've got people
playing lacrosse or I'm trying to think some of the
other sports. But if these kids are spaced all around
the school campus, and sometimes these sports are taking place
(17:40):
off campus, you know they may be in the town.
Their baseball field may not be at the school, it's
located in the town. So think about where all these
different locations are. There's not enough. We do not have
enough AEDs out there protecting our kids, our most valuable resource.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
What are they about fifteen hundred bucks apiece?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
We have them available for about fifteen hundred dollars. Price
is up to about twenty two hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
All right, there are loads and loads of businesses in
the area. That's a great contribution.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
It certainly is.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
You think about the cost of you can pull out
your iPhone or your androids. Yeah, how much does that cost?
And that's not going to save anybody's life. So, you know,
we would love to see more businesses step up. We've
had a huge uptick and interest in this program, getting
businesses to sponsor AEDs that they can give to youth
organizations or they can install in the community, make them
(18:31):
publicly accessible. So we're really building out that part of
our work right now, trying to get these out into
the community, putting them in what we call save stations
so that they're accessible twenty four to seven out in
the community. So we're always looking for corporate partners to
sponsor those AEDs and save stations.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Talk to me about those CPR classes.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
We're everywhere.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
We're so busy, it's amazing, amazing. I always say, I
never want cost to be a reason that somebody doesn't
get CPR trained or certified, and we make it so
affordable through the Payton Walker Foundation. We do we do
individual classes where people can just sign up and do
community classes twenty five dollars twenty five dollars to come
(19:13):
and get certified, great great skills. We also then work
with different companies. We're doing more and more corporate CPR training.
It's phenomenal because we companies are really seeing the value
of giving their employees this life saving skill. So we
are constantly going out into different companies, you know, doing
a lunch and learn and doing all kinds of community
work with the businesses to get this training out. They're
(19:35):
very affordable. Again, please contact the Payton Walker Foundation. If
you're interested in bringing us out to do training for you,
we can do certification, we can just do a quick
lunch and learn. But giving your employees this skill, you know,
could mean the difference of life.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
And o oh absolutely absolutely, you know, thinking about this
over the years, and I think about our life a lot,
I think about some cardiac risk. It's like they say
at the that comes in the night being gone, and
it's you know, and you said, a lot of times
we know what the signs and symptoms are for heart
attack for the person themselves who thinks they're going, who
(20:14):
may know about cardiac orisks?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Do they know what that the signs are? And what
are they do?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
You know?
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Well, I mean, sadly, a lot of times we say
the first sign is sudden death, like you may not
even have any symptoms or signs or warnings leading up
to it. I mean a lot of people that I've
talked to who have survived cardiac arrest said they had
no idea. They woke up in I see you. They
don't remember anything. They don't remember feeling funny, they don't remember,
(20:42):
you know, having chest pain or heart palpitations. They don't
remember feeling any of that. All they remember is waking
up in ICU and their life had been saved. But
we talk about you know, things to watch for, and
this is really important. If you're feeling the palpitations in
your chest or you know, a flutter or an interruption
and your heartbeat, if that keeps happening, definitely have the
(21:02):
conversation with a physician passing out, especially after athletics. If
a kid passes out, that is not normal, So please
mention that to the family physician. It is not normal
to pass out and lose consciousness and still you might
have some chest pain, you may have some lightheadedness, dizziness,
anything that just doesn't seem quite right. If you have
a kid who's participating in sports and historically you know
(21:26):
they're super high level, you know they can do anything.
They can you know, run whatever, they're always high performers.
But now all of a sudden they seem to be
struggling a little bit. Maybe they have a virus, like
you know, there could be something going on, like all
of a sudden, the kid is not recovering well after
running one hundred meters or whatever. So things that you
really should talk to family members kids, you know, things
(21:49):
for you to consider. These could all be warning signs
that there could be something going on with the heart.
So but again it's it's so it's such a sneaky, unpredictable,
undet tactable thing that we never know when that when
that what we called the power outage. We never know
when that's coming. Like think of it, when you're sitting
in your living room at home and all of a
sudden the power goes out. Nobody calls you ahead of
(22:10):
time from the power company and says, you know, hey, Sylvia,
we're going to be shutting your power off in about
three minutes. Like that warning doesn't come. It just happens.
You get the power outage, no warning. So that's why
the best plan is to be prepared is to have
the ad no CPR.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I'm wondering if you might be willing to share some
of the stories. There's one especially by a little girl
named Alicia.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yes, I'm smiling, Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
He's precious.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Yes, So this is what makes our work worthwhile. This
is what helps me to put my feet on the
floor every day. This is by far the hardest work
I've ever done. But to get the gratifying moments of
the stories, the success stories, and the saves. That's why
we do the work we do. And little she was
(22:58):
ten years old at the time. Alicia was roller skating
at the Olympic Skating Center which is here in Central Pennsylvania,
and she bent over to tire her skate and collapsed
without warning. She did not have any you know, back
to the signs and symptoms. She felt fine leading up
to this, collapsed in full cardiac arrest. During this it
(23:19):
was a church skate night and they immediately, you know,
called for help, and thankfully there was somebody there, the
new CPR, and thankfully there was an AED in a
wall cabinet that we had donated. We had a wonderful
kid who attended one of our heart screenings and he
wanted to pay it for. We found something in him
at one of our heart screenings. He wanted to pay
(23:40):
it forward, so he helped fundraise and got an AED
placed at this facility. Whiz is his name, and so yeah,
love Whiz. And so the a ED was there and
it was used. The owner of the rank was able
to use the AD shock Alicia's heart and bring her
back to life. It saved her life. The doctors that
(24:00):
hershey med said, without a doubt, without that AED, she
would not have survived because think how long it takes
EMS to arrive on scene. And so they were able
to she was conscious. You know this, between the CPR
and the AED, the shock that was delivered, she was
conscious and sitting up before when EMS arrived. So and this,
this is this beautiful girl. She just celebrated her thirteenth
(24:23):
birthday and sent pictures from that And just the smile
on this kid's face. There's something I see Peyton in her,
and I just feel an eternal connection to this kid.
And I know our work saved her family from absolute devastation.
And I'm so so grateful. I paid the ultimate price.
I lost my daughter, but I've been able to turn
(24:46):
that around and give this gift back and saving Alicia's life.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
And that's that's enough.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
If I don't do one more thing in my lifetime,
Alicia is enough.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Wow, time is everything. Everything, that's everything.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
And anybody listening out there, if you ever thought about volunteering,
everybody says, oh, volunteer, change your life. This is amazing.
Julie back, when was it? When it started in Cumberland
Cumberland County, the four Minute Community program and now God
Lover she has in Dauphin County.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Tell us all about that. That's past.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
So the four Minute Community you want to talk about
like completely, we are really changing the future of how
we address sudden cardiac arrest. This is a groundbreaking initiative
that I couldn't be more proud of. The four Minute Community.
It connects AEDs, the defibrillators to the nine one one operators.
We put three hundred of these AEDs out in Cumberland County.
(25:49):
We gave them away to community members, gave them away
to community members at no cost. So they're now connected
to the nine one one operators. So when a nine
one one operator gets a call they suspect cardiac arrest,
they can hit an alarm that goes out to the
AED located closest to where the cardiac arrest is. And
now a community member can respond, get to the victim,
start CPR, start using the AED before EMS ever gets there.
(26:13):
Because again you think it could be eight minutes or
fifteen minutes or thirty minutes in rural areas for EMS
to get there. So now with this program, we're getting
community members to respond to cardiac arrests so much more quickly.
So we were able to put three hundred in Cumberland County.
We got a grant put three hundred, We're in the
process of putting three hundred in Dauphin County. Like this
is like a three quarter of a million dollar project.
(26:35):
Think of it is. This is big, big time and
you know our work. I'm so proud because our work, truly,
our little Peyton Walker Foundation, has put Central Pennsylvania on
the map as a national leader in sudden cardiac arrest
prevention and survival. This is a game changer for the
entire industry. We had the very first save with the
four minute community the very first save. We're one of
(26:57):
five communities in the country that have this. But last July,
we had the first save in Upper Allen Township through
this incredible software, this incredible device. You know, a community
member was able to respond and save a life. So
it's a game changer and again putting Central Pennsylvania on
the map as a national leader through the work that
we're doing here at the Peyton Walker Foundation.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
We've heard a lot of stuff today.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
There's so much more, but Julie, if you want to
be one of those community members. If you want to
volunteer and one of your huge events to raise all
that money, you're going to have to keep doing the
pay for this stuff. I mean anything we mentioned out.
If you're what your school, the kids in your school
to be examined, what do you call it?
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Exactly who I mean? Who wouldn't want this?
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Who wouldn't want it?
Speaker 4 (27:44):
This is? This is the work we're doing is tangible.
We're saving lives right here in central Pennsylvania and beyond.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Like it is.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
I love and I'm so proud of what we're doing,
the difference that we're making. So more information Peyton Walker
dot org and you can sign up to volunt here,
get information about heart screenings, get CPR trained, get AED information.
It's all there Peyton Walker dot org.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Well you know what else I want to talk? And
I don't know if these numbers again, correct me if
I'm wrong, are the correct ones. But you have been
able to donate over eight hundred AEDs, you've screened over
five thousand kids, and you've educated over half a million people, counting.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Nobody does that and counting that's what I'm so proud of.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
There, she goes again. She tells me she's starting and
she's still counting.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
You still don't, Still don't. Our work is never done,
but yeah, we've been able. Our small and mighty team
has been able to make such a huge impact.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
That's what I love.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
We are hands on, so tangible, the work we're doing
and the lives we're changing right here in central Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Julie, my dear friend, from the bottom of my heart,
Oh my god, thank you, thank you. Thinking I'm going
to keep talking about and spreading the word about thing.
Oh of course, And what a legacy for your little girl.
How about it? Thousands of her kids are walking around
with serious ice undiagnosed heart issues. That's what Julie wants
you to know. This can absolutely lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
(29:08):
These kids are affected by In fact, this is how
so the life of our cardiac arrest takes the life
of one child every hour, every single day. It's a
leading cause of death on school campuses and the killer
of number one killer student athletes Peyton Walker dot org.
Thank you again, Julia up for checking hearts, protecting hearts,
(29:29):
and most importantly, saving lives. And as always I invite
you to listen Inside every weekend and one of our
many iHeart stations, or anytime on your favorite podcast. Now,
I'm Sylvia Moss. This has been Inside. Thanks so much
for listening. See you next week. Five
Hi, I am Sylvia Moss. This is in Sight, a
presentation of iHeartMedia where we really do care about our
local communities and all our listeners who live here. Nobody
really knows why some of us face terrible tragedies in
our lives, the worst being the loss of a child.
Every single day you'll live through that terrible pain for
which there is no relief, knowing that somehow, some way,
(00:22):
some way, you gotta You have no choice, You got
to get through it and go on. This November, it's
going to be twelve years that Julie Walker lost your
beautiful and amazing daughter Peyton to sudden cardiac arrest. At
the time, Peyton was nineteen years old and studying to
be a physician's assistant at King's College in Wilkesbarre. Understandably,
it took Julie several weeks to go through Peyton's clothing
(00:44):
that she'd been wearing at the time of her death.
When she did, Julie found Peyton's T shirt that had
printed on it these words what we do for ourselves
dies with us. What we do for others and the
world remains and is immortal. Gives us insight into the
hearts of both Peyton.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Walker and her mom.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Through her endless grief and working a very demanding full
time job, Julie founded the Peyton Walker Foundation to honor
Peyton and to do all that she could to make
sure that other parents just like you who are listening
to this program wouldn't have to face what she did
with the loss of your child because of sudden cardiac arrest.
My dear, dear Julie. Twelve years. Holy, don't it It
(01:27):
seems like it seems like it was so long ago,
and yet it seems like yesterday.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I know.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Just I don't even like to say that it's been
twelve years because it seems like, okay, well you should
be over this now, let's move on. You know, I
just still see me it's still yesterday. So, yeah, twelve
years is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Well, you know what, from what I know about you,
you owned your own, big time, big time events company
for major companies, and you're all over the world. But
prior to Peyton's passing, you really didn't. I mean, you
have a heart condition, it's in the family, but you
didn't know that much about the medfield, dig about issues,
medicine stuff.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Yeah, no, I mean, that's what I have been thrust
into this world and become a subject matter expert on
all things sudden cardiac arrest. And this is not something
I wanted to do or envisioned ever having to do.
But you know, life dealt me this hand, and this
is what we've done since we lost Peyton.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
And boy, oh boy, oh boy, have you done an
awesome job. Well how did you decide you were going
to focus? Of course it will be cardiac arrest, but
what areas? I guess you had to do an awful
lot of research to find out what was going on?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Right, Well, we did, and after we lost Peyton, we
just knew we had to do something to prevent other
moms and dads and brothers and sisters from suffering the
devastating loss of losing a sibling or a child. And
I started doing some research and really understanding what is
sudden cardiac arrest, what causes it, how can we prevent,
how can we make the biggest impact?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
And we really came up.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
With our three pillars of service that we thought could
have the biggest impact and make a difference. And once
we came up with three pillars, it really has been
the foundation for what we have decided to do over
the last twelve years. I mean, we're constantly evolving and
growing far beyond anything still than I ever could have imagined.
I cannot believe where we are today versus where we
(03:13):
are where we were in twenty thirteen after losing Peyton.
It's been absolutely incredible, and it's truly a labor of love.
It's been a community project. It has taken the work
of so many people and businesses and community partners to
make this all work.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I want to talk about everything you've done and what
you needs continue to be. But first of all, let's
start real basic. I don't think a lot of people
when they think a person died of a sudden cardiac arrest,
that's a heart attack. No, no, no, no, no, Julie, explain
it in normal people terms.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Right, So we try to break it down and make
it as simple as possible.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Cardiac arrest is.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
An electrical problem, right, heart attack plumbing problem two completely
different things. And kids typically don't have plumbing problems. They're
too young. They're not going to have that build up
of plaque and fat in the arteries and veins around
the heart. So a sudden Cardiac arrest is like a
power outage. So just imagine our hearts are actually controlled
by an electrical current. So imagine somebody just turning off
(04:11):
that light switch and pulling the plug. There's no power
going to that heart anymore. So that means there's no
blood being circulated in your body. Your brain is not
being fed blood and oxygen, your heart and lungs are
not being properly nourished. So cardiac arrest is completely different
than a heart attack. When someone as cardiac arrest, they
are basically dead immediately, and you've got just a few
(04:33):
minutes to restore life to that person. Now, imagine someone
having a heart attack, you know, just you can visualize it.
Somebody you know might be sweating or nauseous or having
the chest pain. They're conscious, they're having the signs and symptoms,
they can talk, and you know, okay, maybe we need
to get you to the hospital.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Something's not right.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
So you've got a little bit of time when someone's
having a heart attack and experiencing those symptoms. But again,
when someone's in cardiac arrest, as soon as that heart's
stops beating, their dead, and you've got to bring them
back to life.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Somehow.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I don't think people understand that that's what it's all about.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
What can trigger it?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Oh my gosh, there's so many different things. So it
could be a genetic issue, which is what Peyton has,
and we have in our family a genetic heart condition.
It could be like DeMar Hamlin, you know, an NFL
player who got hit in the chest. That's called commodial cordis.
So you get hit in the chest that just the
right or wrong moment, and it interrupts that heart rhythm,
(05:29):
that electrical current, and then it causes the heart to
go into cardiac arrest. It could be a virus, so
you could have some inflammation around the heart that causes
this to happen. And there's also other things that we're
looking at.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Stimulants, Ah, those caffeine drinks.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Caffeine drinks, and so there was a huge lawsuit against
a major retail food and beverage retailer in our country
serving you know, the charged lemonades which are now removed
from their menu. The family won a major, major lawsuit.
Their daughter drank it and went into cardiac or not
understanding how much caffeine was in it. So it could
be the supplements. Think about what kids are you know,
(06:05):
taking before the pre workouts. Do they know what they're
putting in their bodies? So it's really scary. You know,
a lot of that stuff is not regulated by the FDA.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
What's in it? What you know?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
It says natural ingredients will define that, So it could.
There's so many different causes that could lead to cardiac
arrest and so we really take a hard angle at
trying to get to the bottom of the things that
we can control. And we can understand.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
When you first start coming in here years ago, you
were saying that it was the number one killer of
student athletes. Now it's it's not just student athletes, is it.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Well, that's correct, so we know it does not discriminate
between athletes and non athletes. So we're losing so many
kids to sudden cardiac arrests. They don't all make the headlines.
They don't all make the national news. That those who
are athletes and maybe have a cardiac arrest on the
football field or on the basketball court, they're more likely
to make the news. It's you know, more people witness it.
(07:01):
There's phones around cameras and take pictures. But think that
there's a lot of kids that maybe go to bed
at night and never wake up in the morning, or
they lay down to take a nap, never wake up,
or I know families who you know, their son was
in the shower and he had a cardiac arrest and collapsed.
So it does not discriminate. It can happen to an
athlete or a non athlete. So that's why we always
encourage when we get into talking about heart screenings, screen
(07:24):
every heart because any kid could be susceptible to having
cardiac arrest.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
You know, when people talk and I've heard people say this,
especially when it involves young athletes, like they say, well,
then why don't they Why didn't they know that the
kid had a heart problem before we start playing football.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, great questions.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So that is one of the things you tacked years
ago and it's still going on.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Right, So when a kid, think about this.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
When a kid gets a sports physical, you know they're
checking for they're getting height, weight, blood pressure, they're checking
some other symptoms that might be might be present, but
they're not given the kid an electric cardiogram. So that
simple test could be the difference between life and death.
When we're talking about our student athletes, and it's so important.
(08:10):
It's such a you know, it's a pain free test,
it's very inexpensive, and it can really it can tell
so much about what's going on. Remember how I said
the herd is controlled by that electrical current, So that
electrical test really can tell physicians what's going on inside
of kid's heart. So sports physicals do not include the
electric cardiogram. We're basically the only thing we do is
listen for heart murmurs when kids get their sports physicals,
(08:32):
and a heart murmur typically is not going to cause
sudden cardiac arrest or sudden death. So we really need
to rethink how we're addressing this. And you know, we're
super excited because in Florida they just passed legislation. The
Governor DeSantis just signed this. Any kid participating in high
school sports in the state of Florida is now required
to have an electric cardigram. I get goosebumps saying that
(08:54):
because that is game changing, wonderful, wonderful that we're finally
making some headway. I mean, there's so much any organizations
that have been fighting for this and advocating for this,
so it happened in Florida. We'll see if that legislation,
you know, can it spread and become the standard of
care that every kid participating in sports gets the EKG.
Now we've, like I said, it happens to kids who
(09:17):
are playing sports and not playing sports. But at least
if we can get the kids that are playing sports,
we get them covered.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That's a great start.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Well, you know, when you're back doing starting all this
one of the things that you I'm still I got
to tell my listeners. I talk about Julie Walker almost
every day. Julie, I swear to God because I'm blown
away by you.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
What you have accomplished.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
One of the things that you wanted to have as
far as the EKGs, you wanted that done, but it
wasn't able to become mandated. But you did something pretty
close with Peyton's law. Tell us about that, wasn't that?
Who was the rep that helped get was a senator?
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yes, that's right?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Pretty quick.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Yeah, I mean again, when we started the foundation, I
knew nothing about running and organizing a foundation. I knew
nothing about advocacy and getting laws passed.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And here we are.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
You know, I'm so proud to say that we were
able to get Peyton's Law passed in twenty twenty during
COVID and what was then one of the most potentially politically.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Father that's probably what this is.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Yeah, so Senator Reagan had kids, and he understood, he
understood this, so we went after getting Peyton's Law passed,
and it really you know, any kid that participates in
PIAA sports, they have to fill out the pre participation forms.
And on those forms, now it includes information about sudden
cardiac arrest. It includes signs and symptoms to watch for,
and it includes the information about why you should get
(10:44):
your kid screened, why you should get an electric cardiogram.
It doesn't require that your kid gets it, but at
least it gives you, the parent, and it gives the
athlete the information. Here's why this test could be a
life changer.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Do you have any idea how effect it is?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Amazing?
Speaker 4 (10:59):
I'm smiling as I'm say saying this, because I just
got a text from somebody who's filling out the paperwork
for their son and they circled where it mentions Peyton's Law,
And you know it's people are seeing it and recognizing
it and understanding that this is something that could be very,
very important to really pay attention to. So I constantly
hear from parents who are filling out that paperwork and
(11:19):
they're so grateful that that's on there. You know, there's
I'm sure there's thousands and thousands of parents every year
filling out the paperwork. They have no idea who Peyton is.
They just you know, check the boxes, finish it. But
locally people know Peyton's story and they're so grateful that
we got this work done.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's wonderful. Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, let's talk about like you were saying some of
the things you were doing. Tell us about the heart screens. Well,
you've done a lot of them, and the most popular
one probably is with the big thirty three.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, So again, you know, we're talking about how can
we find those hidden heart issues that could lead to
suden cardiac arrest, and that simple electric cardiogram test is
absolutely clutch to helping out with this. So we partner
with all the major healthcare systems in the area, go
out to different schools. We screen a couple hundred kids
at a time looking for these hidden hard issues that
(12:06):
could cause cardiac arrest. And over the years we have
screened thousands upon thousands of kids and the findings have
just been astounding. And we know we've sent you know,
because of what we have found. We've sent kids for surgery.
They've they've saved lives. They've had ablasions done, they've had
defibrillators implanted. They you know, some kids don't need that
surgical intervention, but they always play with an AED or defibrillator.
(12:30):
Now they always have an AED at practice and games.
They learn CPR, the families learned CPR. We have impacted
so many kids and families through our heart screening program.
I mean it is paid off. I can't even tell
you exponentially in the lives that we've saved. We've got
a couple of screenings coming up this fall. We just
(12:50):
announced one today. It's going to be in August. We'll
get more on our on our calendar and on our website.
So Peyton Walker dot org for more information. And they're free.
There's no cost, there's no catch. People say nothing's free,
nothing's free, there's always a catch.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
There's no catch.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
I as a mom, I want you to bring a
kid to the screening, get your kids screened, find out
if there's anything going on, and give you the information
that could change you know, the outcome of your future.
So there's no cost to participate. The whole thing takes
maybe an hour an hour and a half to go
through the program at one of these high schools. So
if you see information, bring your kid. You know what
(13:27):
frustrates me is people say, oh, I can't make it.
We have a soccer torn oh that weekend. And you
know that we put so much work into scheduling these
heart screenings. We bring in, you know, world class physicians.
Sometimes we work with Chopp from Philly. We have world
class physicians that come in. It is an enormous undertaking.
I say, drop everything and get your kid to one
(13:47):
of these screenings and get your kids heart screened.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Oh my gosh, how that's a no brainer to Yeah, absolutely,
thinking about the.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Most precious thing in your life.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Well, I want you to correct me if I'm wrong
with so you'll be doing that a lot to.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Okay, Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
The only way a child or any human being can
be saved from sudden CARDIOC not saved from buds. I
guess it is saved from sudden cardiac risk defibrillator or CPR.
Is it either or is it both?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Well, it depends, so that's a trick question. Okay, so both.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
So if you see somebody go down in cardiac arrest,
it's essential.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
The chain of.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Survival that we refer to is you need CPR, you
need AD and you need to get them to the hospital. Okay,
so call push shock. So call nine one one, push
hard and fast on the chest shock with an AED.
Sometimes you're not going to have access to an AED.
So at a minimum, at a minimum, get CPR, get
those chest compressions going, keep the blood circulating because you're
(14:51):
now acting as the pump. You're circulating that blood. You're
feeding the brain with oxygenated blood. Most people have about
twenty minutes of oxygenated blood in their body. So if
you can do CPR and keep that going, you're keeping
the organs alive at least. So you're you're that lifeline
for that person, and it's exhausting, so you need somebody
else to help you. Ideally, if we can get an
a ED on them. So what an AED an automated
(15:13):
external defibrillator an AED will you chock the heart? Shocks
the heart. So when you put an a ED on,
you put two patches on the person's chest. And what
happens is a shock goes from one of those patches
to the other. The heart's right in the middle of
those two patches, and boom, you want to shock that
heart like basically surprises the heart and like whoa, okay,
and time for me to wake up and get back
(15:34):
into a normal rhythm. So that's what happens when you
use an AED. That shock, you know, gets that heart
restarted and hopefully they can start. You know, that person's
on their way to recovery. If not, CPR is always
critically important. Just do chest compressions until EMS arrives.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Okay, CPR, an A D. They're all over the place
now you have no I thought you stop it stop.
You have a lot of them out there. Every time
I turn around.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
You have them in schools.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Every freaking school should have them.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
How about it?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
And well, we're working on it.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Okay, that's another that's another conversation, another law we're working
we'll talk.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
About that one. Okay, okay, But.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Do businesses contact you and say, hey, I want this
in my I heard what's going on with you? I
want How does it work? How are these all distributed?
Speaker 3 (16:23):
So a couple of things. We do it.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
We have a phenomenal AED donation program and we we
focused primarily on youth. So how can we best serve
youth and make sure they're protected. And we do youth
athletic organizations, youth organizations, nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Schools, some businesses.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Some businesses. Our priority is definitely nonprofit in youth. Okay,
So we want to make sure they get they get
first DIBs at getting the AEDs that we're able to donate.
And we're only able to donate as much as many
ADS that we have funding for. So if we don't
have the funding, Yeah, if we don't have the funding,
we can't get a EDS out there. And we you know,
we get a lot of requests for AD. We do
(17:00):
it and we do a review every quarter. So we
get AEDs, we donate them out throughout the community, and
we also work with schools. Now, think about a school
who maybe has ten sports teams. Every season, they're out
playing at all different.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Fields all over.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Not every field has an AED right there. You really
want to have an AD within four minutes of where
a cardiac arrest could occur. So if somebody is out
at a softball field far far away from the school building.
Is there an AED there, and then you've got people
playing lacrosse or I'm trying to think some of the
other sports. But if these kids are spaced all around
the school campus, and sometimes these sports are taking place
(17:40):
off campus, you know they may be in the town.
Their baseball field may not be at the school, it's
located in the town. So think about where all these
different locations are. There's not enough. We do not have
enough AEDs out there protecting our kids, our most valuable resource.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
What are they about fifteen hundred bucks apiece?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
We have them available for about fifteen hundred dollars. Price
is up to about twenty two hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
All right, there are loads and loads of businesses in
the area. That's a great contribution.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
It certainly is.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
You think about the cost of you can pull out
your iPhone or your androids. Yeah, how much does that cost?
And that's not going to save anybody's life. So, you know,
we would love to see more businesses step up. We've
had a huge uptick and interest in this program, getting
businesses to sponsor AEDs that they can give to youth
organizations or they can install in the community, make them
(18:31):
publicly accessible. So we're really building out that part of
our work right now, trying to get these out into
the community, putting them in what we call save stations
so that they're accessible twenty four to seven out in
the community. So we're always looking for corporate partners to
sponsor those AEDs and save stations.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Talk to me about those CPR classes.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
We're everywhere.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
We're so busy, it's amazing, amazing. I always say, I
never want cost to be a reason that somebody doesn't
get CPR trained or certified, and we make it so
affordable through the Payton Walker Foundation. We do we do
individual classes where people can just sign up and do
community classes twenty five dollars twenty five dollars to come
(19:13):
and get certified, great great skills. We also then work
with different companies. We're doing more and more corporate CPR training.
It's phenomenal because we companies are really seeing the value
of giving their employees this life saving skill. So we
are constantly going out into different companies, you know, doing
a lunch and learn and doing all kinds of community
work with the businesses to get this training out. They're
(19:35):
very affordable. Again, please contact the Payton Walker Foundation. If
you're interested in bringing us out to do training for you,
we can do certification, we can just do a quick
lunch and learn. But giving your employees this skill, you know,
could mean the difference of life.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
And o oh absolutely absolutely, you know, thinking about this
over the years, and I think about our life a lot,
I think about some cardiac risk. It's like they say
at the that comes in the night being gone, and
it's you know, and you said, a lot of times
we know what the signs and symptoms are for heart
attack for the person themselves who thinks they're going, who
(20:14):
may know about cardiac orisks?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Do they know what that the signs are? And what
are they do?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
You know?
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Well, I mean, sadly, a lot of times we say
the first sign is sudden death, like you may not
even have any symptoms or signs or warnings leading up
to it. I mean a lot of people that I've
talked to who have survived cardiac arrest said they had
no idea. They woke up in I see you. They
don't remember anything. They don't remember feeling funny, they don't remember,
(20:42):
you know, having chest pain or heart palpitations. They don't
remember feeling any of that. All they remember is waking
up in ICU and their life had been saved. But
we talk about you know, things to watch for, and
this is really important. If you're feeling the palpitations in
your chest or you know, a flutter or an interruption
and your heartbeat, if that keeps happening, definitely have the
(21:02):
conversation with a physician passing out, especially after athletics. If
a kid passes out, that is not normal, So please
mention that to the family physician. It is not normal
to pass out and lose consciousness and still you might
have some chest pain, you may have some lightheadedness, dizziness,
anything that just doesn't seem quite right. If you have
a kid who's participating in sports and historically you know
(21:26):
they're super high level, you know they can do anything.
They can you know, run whatever, they're always high performers.
But now all of a sudden they seem to be
struggling a little bit. Maybe they have a virus, like
you know, there could be something going on, like all
of a sudden, the kid is not recovering well after
running one hundred meters or whatever. So things that you
really should talk to family members kids, you know, things
(21:49):
for you to consider. These could all be warning signs
that there could be something going on with the heart.
So but again it's it's so it's such a sneaky, unpredictable,
undet tactable thing that we never know when that when
that what we called the power outage. We never know
when that's coming. Like think of it, when you're sitting
in your living room at home and all of a
sudden the power goes out. Nobody calls you ahead of
(22:10):
time from the power company and says, you know, hey, Sylvia,
we're going to be shutting your power off in about
three minutes. Like that warning doesn't come. It just happens.
You get the power outage, no warning. So that's why
the best plan is to be prepared is to have
the ad no CPR.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I'm wondering if you might be willing to share some
of the stories. There's one especially by a little girl
named Alicia.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yes, I'm smiling, Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
He's precious.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Yes, So this is what makes our work worthwhile. This
is what helps me to put my feet on the
floor every day. This is by far the hardest work
I've ever done. But to get the gratifying moments of
the stories, the success stories, and the saves. That's why
we do the work we do. And little she was
(22:58):
ten years old at the time. Alicia was roller skating
at the Olympic Skating Center which is here in Central Pennsylvania,
and she bent over to tire her skate and collapsed
without warning. She did not have any you know, back
to the signs and symptoms. She felt fine leading up
to this, collapsed in full cardiac arrest. During this it
(23:19):
was a church skate night and they immediately, you know,
called for help, and thankfully there was somebody there, the
new CPR, and thankfully there was an AED in a
wall cabinet that we had donated. We had a wonderful
kid who attended one of our heart screenings and he
wanted to pay it for. We found something in him
at one of our heart screenings. He wanted to pay
(23:40):
it forward, so he helped fundraise and got an AED
placed at this facility. Whiz is his name, and so yeah,
love Whiz. And so the a ED was there and
it was used. The owner of the rank was able
to use the AD shock Alicia's heart and bring her
back to life. It saved her life. The doctors that
(24:00):
hershey med said, without a doubt, without that AED, she
would not have survived because think how long it takes
EMS to arrive on scene. And so they were able
to she was conscious. You know this, between the CPR
and the AED, the shock that was delivered, she was
conscious and sitting up before when EMS arrived. So and this,
this is this beautiful girl. She just celebrated her thirteenth
(24:23):
birthday and sent pictures from that And just the smile
on this kid's face. There's something I see Peyton in her,
and I just feel an eternal connection to this kid.
And I know our work saved her family from absolute devastation.
And I'm so so grateful. I paid the ultimate price.
I lost my daughter, but I've been able to turn
(24:46):
that around and give this gift back and saving Alicia's life.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
And that's that's enough.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
If I don't do one more thing in my lifetime,
Alicia is enough.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Wow, time is everything. Everything, that's everything.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
And anybody listening out there, if you ever thought about volunteering,
everybody says, oh, volunteer, change your life. This is amazing.
Julie back, when was it? When it started in Cumberland
Cumberland County, the four Minute Community program and now God
Lover she has in Dauphin County.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Tell us all about that. That's past.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
So the four Minute Community you want to talk about
like completely, we are really changing the future of how
we address sudden cardiac arrest. This is a groundbreaking initiative
that I couldn't be more proud of. The four Minute Community.
It connects AEDs, the defibrillators to the nine one one operators.
We put three hundred of these AEDs out in Cumberland County.
(25:49):
We gave them away to community members, gave them away
to community members at no cost. So they're now connected
to the nine one one operators. So when a nine
one one operator gets a call they suspect cardiac arrest,
they can hit an alarm that goes out to the
AED located closest to where the cardiac arrest is. And
now a community member can respond, get to the victim,
start CPR, start using the AED before EMS ever gets there.
(26:13):
Because again you think it could be eight minutes or
fifteen minutes or thirty minutes in rural areas for EMS
to get there. So now with this program, we're getting
community members to respond to cardiac arrests so much more quickly.
So we were able to put three hundred in Cumberland County.
We got a grant put three hundred, We're in the
process of putting three hundred in Dauphin County. Like this
is like a three quarter of a million dollar project.
(26:35):
Think of it is. This is big, big time and
you know our work. I'm so proud because our work, truly,
our little Peyton Walker Foundation, has put Central Pennsylvania on
the map as a national leader in sudden cardiac arrest
prevention and survival. This is a game changer for the
entire industry. We had the very first save with the
four minute community the very first save. We're one of
(26:57):
five communities in the country that have this. But last July,
we had the first save in Upper Allen Township through
this incredible software, this incredible device. You know, a community
member was able to respond and save a life. So
it's a game changer and again putting Central Pennsylvania on
the map as a national leader through the work that
we're doing here at the Peyton Walker Foundation.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
We've heard a lot of stuff today.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
There's so much more, but Julie, if you want to
be one of those community members. If you want to
volunteer and one of your huge events to raise all
that money, you're going to have to keep doing the
pay for this stuff. I mean anything we mentioned out.
If you're what your school, the kids in your school
to be examined, what do you call it?
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Exactly who I mean? Who wouldn't want this?
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Who wouldn't want it?
Speaker 4 (27:44):
This is? This is the work we're doing is tangible.
We're saving lives right here in central Pennsylvania and beyond.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Like it is.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
I love and I'm so proud of what we're doing,
the difference that we're making. So more information Peyton Walker
dot org and you can sign up to volunt here,
get information about heart screenings, get CPR trained, get AED information.
It's all there Peyton Walker dot org.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Well you know what else I want to talk? And
I don't know if these numbers again, correct me if
I'm wrong, are the correct ones. But you have been
able to donate over eight hundred AEDs, you've screened over
five thousand kids, and you've educated over half a million people, counting.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Nobody does that and counting that's what I'm so proud of.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
There, she goes again. She tells me she's starting and
she's still counting.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
You still don't, Still don't. Our work is never done,
but yeah, we've been able. Our small and mighty team
has been able to make such a huge impact.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
That's what I love.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
We are hands on, so tangible, the work we're doing
and the lives we're changing right here in central Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Julie, my dear friend, from the bottom of my heart,
Oh my god, thank you, thank you. Thinking I'm going
to keep talking about and spreading the word about thing.
Oh of course, And what a legacy for your little girl.
How about it? Thousands of her kids are walking around
with serious ice undiagnosed heart issues. That's what Julie wants
you to know. This can absolutely lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
(29:08):
These kids are affected by In fact, this is how
so the life of our cardiac arrest takes the life
of one child every hour, every single day. It's a
leading cause of death on school campuses and the killer
of number one killer student athletes Peyton Walker dot org.
Thank you again, Julia up for checking hearts, protecting hearts,
(29:29):
and most importantly, saving lives. And as always I invite
you to listen Inside every weekend and one of our
many iHeart stations, or anytime on your favorite podcast. Now,
I'm Sylvia Moss. This has been Inside. Thanks so much
for listening. See you next week. Five
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