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Tag: AEDs

  • A 10% chance for survival. Fort Worth expects this tool will change the odds

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    Cassandra Walker practices chest compressions during a CPR class at the Pat May Center in Bedford on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.

    Cassandra Walker practices chest compressions during a CPR class at the Pat May Center in Bedford on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.


    Chris Torres

    ctorres@star-telegram.com

    About one-quarter of Fort Worth Police patrol cars will soon be equipped with automated external defibrillators, a tool that can be used to save lives when a cardiac arrest strikes.

    Ultimately, the department hopes to equip all of its 450 patrol cars with AEDs so that officers can respond in the event of a cardiac arrest, said Cynthia Wood, public information officer for the department.

    Cardiac arrest occurs when a person’s heart stops beating unexpectedly, which in turn stops blood flow to the brain and other organs. It is different from a heart attack, which occurs when there is a blockage in blood flow to the heart. The American Heart Association estimates that more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals every year, with the vast majority of those cardiac arrests being fatal. Nationwide, the average survival rate is 10.2%, according to the American Heart Association.

    Ask any expert about the key to improving that dismal survival rate, and they’ll give you the same answer: time.

    “Cardiac arrest is the most time-sensitive disease in all of medicine,” said Dr. Benjamin Abella, the system chair of the department of emergency medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System.

    “Time is the enemy,” said Dr. Thomas Rea, professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “Every minute that goes by without definitive care is a 10% decrease in the likelihood that that patient will survive.”

    The thinking behind equipping Fort Worth patrol cars with AEDs is that it will help those suffering a cardiac arrest get access to potentially life-saving shocks sooner. Police officers are sometimes the first responders to an emergency medical call, and get there before emergency medical services, Wood said. In those cases, if officers can respond with an AED before a member of the public or emergency medical responders can, they might save a life.

    The initiative was born out of the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers, a Tarrant County group working to improve cardiac arrest survival rates. Tarrant County is one of three communities in the U.S. selected by the American Heart Association to improve survival rates, and the Nation of Lifesavers committee has convened leaders from local schools, first responders, the business community, and local government to tackle the problem.

    During a meeting focused on improving survival rates, an officer with the Fort Worth Police Department recommended equipping patrol cars, in part because the AED at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex has been used successfully four times, Wood said.

    The first 115 AEDs will be paid for by foundations, including the Amon G. Carter Foundation, the Sid W. Richardson Foundation and BNSF Railway, according to a news release.

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    Ciara McCarthy

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Ciara McCarthy covers health and wellness as part of the Star-Telegram’s Crossroads Lab. She came to Fort Worth after three years in Victoria, Texas, where she worked at the Victoria Advocate. Ciara is focused on equipping people and communities with information they need to make decisions about their lives and well-being. Please reach out with your questions about public health or the health care system. Email cmccarthy@star-telegram.com or call or text 817-203-4391.

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    Ciara McCarthy

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  • HISD Keeps Classroom Doors Open, Remains Mum on a 14-year-old’s Death and Builds the Teacher Force it Says it Wants

    HISD Keeps Classroom Doors Open, Remains Mum on a 14-year-old’s Death and Builds the Teacher Force it Says it Wants

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    If half of the 2,600 teachers who left Houston ISD in June and July were rated in the bottom two proficiency categories by the district is this a sign that they were bad teachers or that they just couldn’t get with Superintendent Mike Miles’ programs?

    Should parents breathe a sigh of relief or in some cases continue to question the policies of the new administration?

    And as to why the more highly rated teachers, including those judged to have turned in “exemplary” performances, quit their jobs with HISD, it’s not known. As explained by Jessica Neyman, HISD’s Chief Human Resources Officer at Thursday night’s school board meeting, the Miles administration is continuing the previous practice of leaving it up to the departing employees to ask for an exit interview.

    For his part, Miles pointed to his data showing 83 percent of the higher rated teachers staying with the district as evidence that HISD is building a more proficient teacher force. “The higher the instructional proficiency of the teachers, the higher the retention rate.”

    The departures were higher than historic numbers, 2,696 compared to 2,000, but he added that 1,400 of those teachers had been told they were being brought in for “file review” in the spring meaning they knew their continued job prospects weren’t stellar.  “Most of those teachers decided to resign,” Miles said, before going through that process.

    click to enlarge

    In a power-packed evening there was a bond protest as well.

    Photo by Margaret Downing

    It was another sometimes raucous and always lengthy board meeting complete with one group protesting the upcoming $4.4 billion bond election and another calling for answers in the aftermath of the August death of 14-year-old Landon Payton at Marshall Middle School while in gym class. Landon’s father Alexis Payton, was joined by state Rep. Christina Morales and FIEL Executive  Director Cesar Espinosa among others who stood during the meeting while holding a picture of Landon.

    Payton’s family has still not been told of his cause of death, only that he suffered “a medical emergency.” The AED equipment was reportedly not working in his location which has led to an HISD review of AEDs throughout the district and discovering 170 inoperable units that it has said will be repaired. The family still doesn’t know if a working defibrillator would have saved Landon. HISD has said that only medical officials can establish the cause of death.

    Later in the public speaking section of the evening, parent Anna Luzutiaga asked  everyone to stand to remember the teenager in a moment of silence. While audience members rose, the board members and superintendent did not – which caused an immediate outcry.

    Chanting Landon’s name, while continuing to stand, the audience could not be interrupted. One audience member cursed which sparked a reprimand from Board President Audrey Momanaee  who said children were watching the meeting from home.  When the chanting continued,  the board and Miles retreated to a back room right before 6 p.m. before returning at 6:07.

    “This board supports the Payton family,”  Momanaee said upon their return. She then explained the need for order in school board meetings and repeated that the use of swear words could not be allowed.

    An interesting note was struck when Miles discussed the district’s assessment of performance comparing non-certified teachers to certified ones. Data showed that a lower percentage of the non-certified – 42 percent — scored at the proficient and above level, while 66 percent of certified teachers were judged proficient or higher.

    In the past, Miles has maintained that teachers should be judged on the job they too, rather than whether they are certified or not. At board meetings there have been continuous complaints from parents, students and educators about the district’s increasing use of non-certified teachers, contending that many of them are ill-equipped to handle a classroom.

    Thursday, Miles acknowledged the important factors of experience and training in how effective teachers can be.

    He touted an expansion of HISD’s own in-house certification program which allows the uncertified to work toward certification while teaching. He also referred to a Texas Tribune story which reported that districts all over the state are using more uncertified teachers, trying to fill their teacher ranks, calling it the new reality.

    “This is a problem statewide and nationally,” Miles said.  For the forseeable future if we want to fill all of our positions, we will be hiring teachers who need a certification.”

    According to the Texas Education Agency, 40 percent of new hires across the state in 2023-24 were uncertified. At charter schools it was 60 percent. At the same time, Miles reported that there were 8,000 applicants at the district’s job fairs for about 1,000 openings.

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    An analysis of the HISD retention patterns

    HISD chart

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    Margaret Downing

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