Akron Life April 2023

Go Red For Women

cardioverter defibrillator. It’s a small battery-powered device placed in the chest to detect and stop irregular heartbeats known as arrhyth mias. An ICD continuously monitors the heartbeat and delivers electric shocks, when needed, to restore a regular heart rhythm. Today, Ethan is a happy, healthy 18-year-old and will graduate from high school this year. He is on the varsity bowling team and has been accepted to the University of Northwestern Ohio to con tinue his education in heavy diesel mechanics. “They still don’t know why I went into cardiac arrest, and we may never know,” Ethan says. “I am just living my life as a normal kid doing normal stuff.” Ethan gets choked up when recalling that day four years ago and says his dad will always be his hero. “He’s one of the best people ever. He saved me. He saved my life,” he says. Mark says it was definitely a team effort. “In my mind, it was taking that CPR class, and the paramedics not giv ing up, and everyone putting their heads together and doing their jobs. It was team work from the moment that nurse trained me in CPR, to the paramedics shocking my son back to life.” To learn more about the life saving skill of Hands-Only CPR and to watch a two minute instructional video go to heart.org/handsonlycpr.

Ethan Rutherford

Go Red for Women is an initiative designed to increase women’s heart health awareness and serve as a catalyst for change to improve the lives of women. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women. It claims more women’s lives than all forms of cancer combined. Losing one woman to cardiovascular disease is one too many. Awareness is critical. Brennan, Manna & Diamond FirstEnergy Corp. GPD Group Hasenstab Architects J.W. Didado Electric Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro’s Department of Job and Family Services Synthomer Foundation The Bill Phillips Family University Hospitals Westfield Bank Thank you to our 2023 Go Red for Women sponsors!

with me and I just knew that they had gotten him back. I knew he was breathing and had a pulse. I knew my boy was still alive.” Ethan was transported to Wooster Community Hospital but needed more specialized care. The ER physician ordered his trans fer to Akron Children’s Hospital. But with the massive snowstorm, the hospital’s transport service wasn’t running, and Life Flight was grounded. That’s when the city of Wooster and the Ohio Department of Transportation sprang into action. They worked together to get Ethan the transport he needed. A snowplow was deployed to clear a path all the way to the hospital, with an ambu lance carrying Ethan follow ing closely behind. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart malfunctions and stops beating unexpectedly. Death can occur within minutes if a victim does not receive treatment. Ethan’s survival depended on imme diately receiving CPR from someone nearby. Cardiac

arrest affects thousands of people annually with about 70 percent of them occurring in the home. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a car diac arrest victim’s chance of survival. “Anyone is capable of saving a life,” says Valerie Weber, American Heart Association senior community impact director. “Hands-Only CPR is just two simple steps. Call 911 and then press hard and fast in the center of the chest. If there is an AED available, make sure that someone is going to retrieve it. When moments matter, someone needs to act. Learning Hands-Only CPR will give you the confidence to inter vene and possibly save a life.” In 2021-22, American Heart Association trained more than 33,000 Northeast Ohio residents in CPR and bystander CPR. The Association wants every household or family to have at least one person who knows how to perform CPR. After his cardiac arrest, Ethan’s care team decided he needed an implantable

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APRIL 2023 | akronlife.com