An off-duty nurse came to the rescue after a 66-year-old Virginia Beach man collapsed under sudden cardiac arrest during a Thanksgiving Day road race.

The man collapsed near the end of the run, around the five-and-a-half mile marker, and was quickly tended to by police officers with an AED. Paramedics and the Davis Corner Volunteer Rescue Squad arrived shortly thereafter. The man is currently in critical condition at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.

As this story shows, the Chain of Survival is incredibly important for victims of cardiac and sudden cardiac arrest. The four steps are:

1.) Early Access
2.) Early CPR
3.) Early Defibrillation (AED)
4.) Early Advanced Care

Presently, sudden cardiac arrest claims over 250,000 lives in the United States alone – each year. When each link is present in the Chain of Survival, an estimated 40,000 of these lives could be saved. The off-duty nurse, police officers, volunteer rescue squad and paramedics followed the Chain of Survival to a T and are currently proof of a successful operation following these four crucial steps. We congratulate them all for their quick-thinking and heroism.

Please make sure that you're well aware of the Chain of Survival's four steps in order to ensure you're prepared for sudden cardiac arrest when it strikes.

To read the full story, click here.
TOP