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NFL Announces Expansion of Smart Heart Sports Coalition

2024-02-23T13:50:31-05:00

NFL Announces Expansion of Smart Heart Sports Coalition to 37 member organizations, additional support for CPR Instruction

Nina Hamlin to serve in special role as Honorary Chairwoman of coalition’s Ambassadors Advisory Council

NEW YORK (October 13, 2023) – As October marks Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, the NFL today announced that the Smart Heart Sports Coalition has expanded to 37 member organizations.

Founded in March 2023 in response to the life-saving emergency response and care provided to Damar Hamlin, the coalition seeks to drive the adoption in all 50 states of evidence-based policies that will prevent fatalities from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) among high school students and in school communities. The coalition comprises major sports leagues and organizations, as well as leading patient and health advocacy groups across the country.

For additional information and updates about the Smart Heart Sports Coalition, please visit nfl.com/smartheart .

You can save a life

NFL Announces Expansion of Smart Heart Sports Coalition2024-02-23T13:50:31-05:00

Defibtech Webinar with JoAnne Babbitt

2022-12-16T16:50:04-05:00

Defibtech Webinar with guest JoAnne Babbitt

Mike Papale, Defibtech’s Manager of Community Relations, interviews our nonprofit partners:

Advocates for Health, The Beat Goes On, The Kyle J. Taylor Foundation, and John Taylor Babbitt Foundation. Hear from our partners about the work they do in the community, and what they think needs to change in order to improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest.

Watch the Video Below!

You can save a life

Defibtech Webinar with JoAnne Babbitt2022-12-16T16:50:04-05:00

Spotlight on America Report

2022-03-10T11:50:24-05:00

Spotlight on America Report

AEDs are a crucial life-saving tool. Why doesn’t every U.S. school have one?

The John Taylor Babbitt Foundation and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation worked with Spotlight on America on this report, which has aired on multiple TV stations nationwide. SCAF board members JoAnne Taylor Babbitt and Henry Jampel, MD were interviewed. View the entire Spotlight on America report below.

You can save a life

Spotlight on America Report2022-03-10T11:50:24-05:00

Meet the Babbitt Family

2020-11-25T13:12:47-05:00

Meet the Babbitt Family

The John Taylor Babbitt Foundation was started in 2007 by JoAnne and Dave Babbitt after they lost their 16-year-old son John to Sudden Cardiac Death.

Moving back to New Jersey in 1997 from a job transfer that had brought them to England, JoAnne and Dave moved to Chatham with their two young sons, John, who would start 3rd grade, and his younger brother, Andrew, who would start first grade, at St. Patrick School. After the boys graduated from St. Pats, they attended The Pingry School in Basking Ridge. Involved with town sports such as travel baseball, football and soccer, they also returned to their alma mater to play basketball on Sundays through the parish’s youth ministry program. It was on one of those Sundays that JoAnne got the call to come down to the gym. Dave was already there watching the game. “It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” recalls JoAnne. “In a minute your life changes—just like that.”

You can save a life

Meet the Babbitt Family2020-11-25T13:12:47-05:00

What COVID-19 is doing to the heart, even after recovery

2020-11-25T13:02:05-05:00

What COVID-19 is doing to the heart, even after recovery

A growing number of studies suggest many COVID-19 survivors experience some type of heart damage, even if they didn’t have underlying heart disease and weren’t sick enough to be hospitalized. This latest twist has health care experts worried about a potential increase in heart failure.

“Very early into the pandemic, it was clear that many patients who were hospitalized were showing evidence of cardiac injury,” said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, chief of the division of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “More recently, there is recognition that even some of those COVID-19 patients not hospitalized are experiencing cardiac injury. This raises concerns that there may be individuals who get through the initial infection, but are left with cardiovascular damage and complications.”

You can save a life

What COVID-19 is doing to the heart, even after recovery2020-11-25T13:02:05-05:00

COVID-19 Pandemic Dramatically Increased Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Cases and Deaths in New York City

2020-11-25T13:12:31-05:00

COVID-19 Pandemic Dramatically Increased Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Cases and Deaths in New York City

Study Based on New York City EMS Calls Finds Cases Nearly Tripled From Previous Year

JUNE 19, 2020—(BRONX, NY)—The COVID-19 pandemic in New York City caused a surge in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and deaths, according to a study co-authored by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Health System, and the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY).

David J. Prezant, M.D.
David J. Prezant, M.D.

The study, published online today in JAMA Cardiology, found a three-fold increase in out-of-hospital non-traumatic cardiac-arrest cases in March and April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. On the worst day—April 6—cardiac arrests peaked at 305 cases, an increase of nearly 10-fold compared with the same day one year earlier. The mortality rate for cardiac-arrest cases also rose, from 75% in 2019 to more than 90% during the same period in 2020.

“Relatively few, if any, patients were tested to confirm the presence of COVID-19, so we couldn’t distinguish between cardiac arrests attributable to COVID-19 and those that may have resulted from other health conditions,” said study senior author David Prezant, M.D., professor of medicine at Einstein, a clinical pulmonologist at Montefiore, and the Chief Medical Officer at the FDNY. “We also can’t rule out the possibility that some people may have died from delays in seeking or receiving treatment for non-COIVD-19-related conditions. However, the dramatic increase in cardiac arrests compared to the same period in 2019, strongly indicates that the pandemic was directly or indirectly responsible for that surge in cardiac arrests and deaths.”

You can save a life

COVID-19 Pandemic Dramatically Increased Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Cases and Deaths in New York City2020-11-25T13:12:31-05:00

Chatham Girl Scout Calls on Community’s Help to Map Locations of AEDs Throughout Chatham

2020-11-25T12:57:27-05:00

Chatham Girl Scout Calls on Community’s Help to Map Locations of AEDs Throughout Chatham

“A Map to the Heart” Launches Just in Time For Heart Health Awareness Month – February

Mikayla Meyler, a senior at Chatham High School and member of the Chatham Emergency Squad, is currently working on her Girl Scout Gold Award Project to create a map promoting the locations of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the Chathams.

The project, called “A Map to the Heart,” is created in cooperation with the Chatham Emergency Squad and the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation, seeking to raise awareness of the exact locations of the many AEDs in our community. But she needs your help – and is calling on the public’s knowledge to assist her in populating the database, which will be made public on the Chatham Emergency Squad’s website and will inform visitors of where AEDs can be found throughout Chatham Township and Chatham Borough.

You can save a life

Chatham Girl Scout Calls on Community’s Help to Map Locations of AEDs Throughout Chatham2020-11-25T12:57:27-05:00

Babbitt honored by Fortune Magazine

2020-11-25T12:55:27-05:00

Babbitt honored by Fortune Magazine

Fortune Magazine selects Dave Babbitt “Hero of the 500”

Fortune’s Heroes of the 500 2014 represents 50 men and women whose personal passions, individual ideals and professional endeavors are transforming communities. All of the selected honorees are employed by Fortune 500 Companies.

Dave was recognized for his work with the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation and his advocacy for the importance of installing Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) in all places of public assembly.

Age: 56
Occupation: Managing Director, Business Development, Global Markets
Company: BNY Mellon
Location: New York, N.Y.

At age 16, John Taylor Babbitt was a three-sport athlete, a dedicated student, and an active member of his Chatham, N.J., church youth ministry. He was “larger than life,” says his father, David. While playing basketball at church one evening in 2006, John Taylor died of sudden cardiac arrest, the result of an undiagnosed genetic disorder. Since then, David and his wife, JoAnne Taylor Babbitt, have championed greater access to automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, which can help someone’s heart re-establish an effective rhythm after a heart attack. “The technology has become so superior that when you open it, it tells you exactly what to do,” David explains, likening the device to having a fire extinguisher at the ready. The couple led a successful push to pass New Jersey’s Good Samaritan Law, which protects people who try to save a life by using a defibrillator from liability. Through the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation, they have sponsored AED training for more than 350 people, and granted funds to schools and community-based organizations to purchase the machines. The Babbitts are now lobbying for a law to integrate CPR and AED training into the health curriculum for seniors in high school.

Fortune “Heroes of the 500 2014”

John Taylor Babbitt Foundation
The John Taylor Babbitt Foundation is a non-profit 501c-3 organization founded in John’s memory and dedicated to preventing sudden cardiac death. The specific goals of the Foundation are to:
Install defibrillators in schools, athletic venues, and public gathering places.
Establish JTB Heart Clubs in high schools and universities to raise awareness.
Support research on genetic cardiac disorders that increase risk of sudden cardiac death.

You can save a life

Babbitt honored by Fortune Magazine2020-11-25T12:55:27-05:00

New NJ law requires high school students to learn CPR before graduating

2020-11-25T12:54:41-05:00

New NJ law requires high school students to learn CPR before graduating

By Matthew Stanmyre mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Starting with this fall’s high school freshman class, public school students in New Jersey will be required to learn CPR and how to use defibrillators in order to graduate.

by Matt Friedman (The Star-Ledger)

You can save a life

New NJ law requires high school students to learn CPR before graduating2020-11-25T12:54:41-05:00

Should Young Athletes Be Screened for Heart Risk?

2020-11-25T12:53:33-05:00

Should Young Athletes Be Screened for Heart Risk?

Should Young Athletes Be Screened for Heart Risk?

From the New York Times
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR, Writer
Published: April 30, 2012, 5:17 PM

Should high school athletes be screened for heart trouble before taking to the practice field?

Once thought to be exceedingly rare, sudden cardiac death is far more prevalent among young athletes than previously believed, recent research has shown. In a policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics estimated that 2,000 people under the age of 25 die from sudden cardiac arrest in the United States every year.

While it can strike those who are sedentary, the risk is up to three times greater in competitive athletes. According to some experts, a high school student dies of cardiac arrest as often as every three days. Only the most sensational cases make headlines, said Darla Varrenti, executive director of the Nick of Time Foundation, which promotes awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in young people and provides free screenings. The condition received worldwide attention in March when Fabrice Muamba, a star soccer player in England, nearly died after suddenly collapsing in cardiac arrest during a televised game.

Ms. Varrenti started her foundation six years ago after her son, Nick, 16, a varsity athlete, died in his sleep after playing in a game. In January and February of this year alone, 29 young athletes went into cardiac arrest at schools across the country, Ms. Varrenti said. Only four survived.

“There’s a lot of press when the cases are spectacular,” she said. “But this happens all the time.”

Sudden cardiac arrest in a young person usually stems from a structural defect in the heart or a problem with its electrical circuitry. The most frequent cause, accounting for about 40 percent of all cases, is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, a thickening of the heart muscle.

The problem is that those who are at risk are hard to spot. Warning signs, like dizziness and shortness of breath, can be rare or dismissed by young athletes used to overworking themselves.

But an electrocardiogram, or EKG, can detect HCM and other potential causes of heart trouble by looking for abnormal electrical signaling in the heart. Though EKGs are not as thorough as imaging tests like an echocardiogram, which shows a 3-D view of the heart, they are cheaper and easier to conduct on a wider basis.

An EKG can cost as much as $150, according to the American College of Cardiology. But many insurers will cover 80 to 100 percent of the costs, and in some areas, high schools offer student athletes EKGs at deeply discounted rates.

Still, the American Heart Association does not support wide screening. Under its guidelines, high school athletes get a physical exam, which includes listening to the heart and a blood pressure check, and fill out a questionnaire about personal and family medical history. More extensive testing takes place only if the student’s physical or history raises red flags.

For years, the argument against EKGs was that for something as rare as sudden cardiac death, there is no sense in mandating costly tests. EKGs can be unreliable, too, producing false-positive results 20 percent of the time, critics say.

But that argument pivots on old data, including outdated numbers on the prevalence of sudden cardiac death, and fails to take into account improvements in the standards for interpreting EKG results, said Dr. Jonathan Drezner, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Washington and vice president of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.

Even physical exams that include extensive medical histories typically fail to identify 60 percent to 80 percent of student athletes at risk, Dr. Drezner said. Adding an EKG to the sports physical would flag many young athletes whose heart defects would otherwise go unnoticed.

“No one is recommending you only do an EKG,” he said. “It really is the combined protocol of history and EKG that provides the more advanced heart screening that we should aim for.”

In a study published in 2010 in Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Matthew T. Wheeler and colleagues at Stanford University found that adding EKGs to sports physicals for young athletes would create “a large benefit in a small number of individuals.” But they would save enough lives to be considered cost effective, with a net cost of roughly $89 per person screened.

Based on their analysis, however, Dr. Wheeler said that EKGs make sense only for high school and college athletes — in children and adolescents, the risk of sudden cardiac death is lower — who compete in high-intensity sports like basketball, football and soccer. (Low-intensity sports, he said, include golf and bowling.)

“We are not advocating this as a mandatory test for all students or all athletes,” said Dr. Wheeler, a fellow in cardiology at Stanford Medical School.

Some experts think the time has come for thorough heart screenings for all young athletes. Researchers at the Texas Heart Institute are even looking at the prevalence of heart abnormalities in middle-school students and the feasibility of complete screenings, combining EKGs and imaging tests.

The goal of the project, which is financed through a $5 million private grant, is to screen 10,000 students in Houston middle schools, said Dr. Jim Willerson, the lead investigator and president and medical director of the Texas Heart Institute. “If we save even one life, it will be worth it,” he said.

Dr. Willerson said his hope was that school districts elsewhere would start to consider detailed screening of children “before they are involved in competitive athletics and probably even as they enter school.”

In the meantime, hundreds of groups like Ms. Varrenti’s have made it their mission to provide free EKGs and heart examinations to young people at community screenings around the country. Parents who are interested in a heart screening can reach out to their family doctors, or find out about free screenings in their area at Web sites like parentheartwatch.org.

“You can either open the dialogue with your pediatrician or look into free screenings,” Ms. Varrenti said. “No one should go through what our family went through.”

You can save a life

Should Young Athletes Be Screened for Heart Risk?2020-11-25T12:53:33-05:00
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