She died of sudden cardiac arrest inkindergarten
(Albany, NY – June 2014) You think about lunches and snacks and if you’ve sent the right kind of mat for naptime when you send your child to kindergarten. You don’t think about whether enough people know CPR to save your child’s life.
“Madison was only 5 when she died of sudden cardiac arrest,” said Madison’s mother, Suzy McCarthy of Lakeview, NY. “Five. If I had been there, I would have been on my knees, not praying, but performing CPR. Madison died 13 years ago, and I wonder what kind of woman she would have grown into.”
McCarthy is one of many volunteers working with the American Heart Association to pass the CPR in Schools bill. She also works on her own to make sure the bill passes.
“The Madison McCarthy Cardiac Care Coalition has worked tirelessly to promote passage of the CPR in Schools Bill, so that parents can watch their children grow up,” she said.
The American Heart Association’s “So Many Reasons” campaign sends a reason every legislative session day to lawmakers and the media urging passage of the CPR in Schools bill (A9298/S7096). The reasons show people whose lives were saved with CPR and/or an AED, or people whose lives were lost because CPR and/or an AED weren’t used, or weren’t used correctly. The campaign includes the American Heart Association’s social media outlets throughout New York, the facebook page American Heart Association – New York State, and regional Twitter feeds, @CRNYHEART in the Capital Region; @HeartCNY in Central New York; @HeartLongIsland on Long Island; @HVAmericanHeart in the Hudson Valley; @WNYHeart in western New York; @HeartROC in Rochester and @foundersheart in New York City.
Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, D-Long Beach, and Senator Mark Grisanti, R-Buffalo, recently introduced an updated CPR in Schools bills, which is currently in the Education Committees in both houses.
“CPR is a lifesaving solution,” said Weisenberg. “As a former police officer, school administrator and lifeguard, I know firsthand that we need bystander CPR to save lives. Many people are alive today because individuals trained in CPR — including youth and adults who received that training in school — gave someone CPR until EMTs arrived. I’m committed to passing the CPR in Schools bill so that we can create a generation in which New Yorkers are prepared to save lives.”
“Schools prepare students with essential life skills, and CPR skills are among the most critical lifesaving skills that make our communities safer, year after year, said Grisanti. “It’s time to add New York to the growing list of states that have passed this legislation. I’m honored to sponsor the CPR schools legislation in the New York State Senate and I am proud to work in partnership with the American Heart Association and families in western New York to help make this bill become a law.”
“Every year, 424,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital,” said Dan Moran, chair of the American Heart Association’s New York State Advocacy Committee. “Would you know what to do if someone collapsed in front of you? Teaching CPR in schools will save lives. When I meet people who were dead, really, with sudden cardiac arrest, and I hear everything they’ve done since being saved, you see that the CPR in Schools bill isn’t just a bill – it’s life.”
Currently, only about 10 percent of those who suffer sudden cardiac arrest survive.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit www.heart.org or call any of our offices around the country.
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