Tim Russert, Katie Couric and a Chance to Save a Life
Like many guys of “a certain age,” I was laid low by the sudden death of Tim Russert. Just last winter I had a complete physical, including a colonoscopy, and came out clean as a whistle. In fact, my doctor told me, “You’re the fittest fat man in Philly.”
It’s cruel. My doctor said, “I have 110 pound women coming in here who do yoga every day. The watch what they eat. They exercise. And they have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. You? Your tests show that you’re as healthy as a guy half your age.”
How ’bout dat? But all those good tests don’t mean a thing if the old ticker goes haywire. I read “Not a Moment Too Soon, I Thought About Tim Russert” in the NYT this morning. Writer Michael Bicks talks about his shortness of breath and nausea that made him, over his embarrassment, go to the hospital.
As in Tim Russert’s case, there were no warning signs. No sign I was suffering from coronary artery disease. A piece of plaque in one of my arteries just broke off and created a massive blood clot. When it did, I suffered a severe heart attack. If I had not gone to the hospital, I might very well have died.
Because at the right moment I thought of Tim Russert, I am one of the lucky ones. I get to hug my wife and my kids, understand how wonderful my friends are and realize exactly how much I love my life. It is a debt I can never repay.
He was saved by overcoming his hesitation and fear. That’s the good part. Katie Couric recently did a piece about using defibrillators in the office. The video is below.
“Trust me, they are a lot easier to use than they are to pronounce, and they can save a life,” she says.
More than a million people have a heart attack a year, but only 300,000 have sudden cardiac arrest and of those half of them have never had any previous history of heart decreases. Nationally, if you go down and no one is around, there is only a 4 - 6 percent survival rate. If you have CPR it can go up to 15 percent and with a defibrillator the survival rate can be 30 - 40 percent, even higher.
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7 Responses to “Tim Russert, Katie Couric and a Chance to Save a Life”
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Thanks for the nice sobering article from someone else from a certain age group. Haven’t been to the Dr in almost 2 years, shame on me! CHF did in my father and his 3 older siblings. Well as Tara Ohara simply stated, “I’ll think about it tomorrow”
John, you and me, brother. Let’s agree that if we feel like our tickers are not going tick-tock, let’s go to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Crazy scary…I’m that age when I feel like Fred Sanford every time my heart skips a beat.
Oh my god. They got to you, too!!
Yep, usually they do scorched earth. I get around 10-20 requests a day. I ignore 99% of them…but this one was very interesting…especially because I’m still freaked a little about Tim Russert.
[...] enough guy — but frankly, he’s not punk rock enough to write about portable defibrillators in the workplace. That’s my [...]
[...] KnowHR has an important read — In the wake of Tim Russert’s surprising and sudden death, it’s about having signs of heart disease appear in the office and how you could save a life. Read it here. [...]
We put many of these around the building at the Company I used to work for and many of us went through the training on how to use them. They are EXTREMELY easy to use. Not only easy, but you press like one button and the thing talks you through each step of the way.