San Jose Mercury News

By Tiffany Carney
Willow Glen Resident
02.16.09

When Kyle Travis, 17, fell to the ground during basketball practice at Valley Christian School last October, he didn't have a pulse, nor was he breathing. Within minutes, the onsite athletic trainers were at his side with the school's Automated External Defibrillator. They administered one shock, restored his pulse and continued CPR until the fire department arrived.

If the San Jose school had not had an AED machine on its Monterey Road campus that day, the outcome could have been very different for the otherwise healthy, young varsity athlete.

Travis is among the 5 percent of victims of sudden cardiac arrest in the United States who survive. He was back at school a week later.

San Jose Fire Capt. Jose Chavez hopes to give more residents a better chance for survival through the Heart Safe Initiative, approved by city council in June 2008.

Chavez was appointed as manager of the program in January and is working with the American Heart Association, American Red Cross and Health Trust on its implementation. Chavez hopes to equip every school, community center, senior center and public building with the $2,000 lifesaving device and provide CPR training.

In San Jose, there are two sudden cardiac arrests each day.

"The heart goes into a pattern that is erratic; it is fibrillating, and it needs to be turned off and turned back on again, and that is what the defibrillator does," Chavez said.

The initiative will provide resources to train 20 percent of the population to identify sudden cardiac arrest victims and take immediate action.

Already, 150 AEDs are available for public access in city buildings, libraries and senior centers. The next step is to equip every office, apartment building and shopping mall with the device and provide training, Chavez said.

"It is a team approach; it is the civilians that are identifying the patient, calling 911, starting the process, starting CPR, putting on the defibrillator and shocking them once or twice," Chavez said, "so that when we get there, we have a viable patient."

The fire department's average response time is eight minutes or less, 80 percent of the time.

"The importance is to get the AED on a person within four minutes, and that is what we can't do unless we double the number of fire stations," Chavez said, adding that having AEDs nearly as readily available as fire extinguishers could bridge that gap.

Cities and communities that have already implemented similar programs boast a survival rate of 50 to 70 percent.

According to Chavez, half the battle is public education.

The Willow Glen and Shasta Hanchett Park neighborhood associations are joining in the effort. Both are planning CPR training and coordinating discussions to purchase an AED for neighborhood meetings and neighborhood functions.

"It will help us buy time for someone who is in a medical emergency," said Richard Zappelli, vice chair of the Willow Glen neighborhood group. The group wrote a memo to city council supporting the initiative along with Jim Carter, retired SJFD deputy chief.

"It is going to help save lives," Carter said.

Chavez refers to Valley Christian as Heart Safe, thanks to Denise Narlesky.

Narlesky and Micaela Terry, both certified athletic trainers, advocated for an AED after reading a 1999 magazine article explaining the importance the device.

The duo approached parent-teacher groups who were happy to raise enough funds to purchase the first AED in 2003. There are now five machines mounted on the walls throughout the school's three campuses, and one AED that travels with the football team.

Narlesky and Terry, along with coaches and front office staff, are trained in CPR and how to use the AED, complete with automated instructions and step-by-step pictures.

The training has paid off — three times. Besides Kyle, two spectators experienced sudden cardiac arrest and were treated by the trainers.

"While your thinking this person just got the wind knocked out of them, you are wasting precious time," Narlesky said. The first save took place in 2003, when rescue breathing was used.

In 2005, Terry used the device on a 79-year-old woman who collapsed on campus.

"The AED shocked her once, and she came to life," Terry said. "She had no residual damage from the episode."

The most recent save was last October when 17-year-old Kyle collapsed during basketball.

"I checked his pulse, and it was like an empty tunnel," Narlesky said. "After one shock, he got his rhythm back."

In January, Travis was cleared by his physician to rejoin the basketball team.

Time is the critical factor in each sudden cardiac arrest victim. "After three to five minutes, brain damage is eminent without oxygen," Narlesky said.

According to Chavez, many schools are not equipped because they lack funding.

A Health Trust grant is earmarked for a pilot program at a handful of schools to train seventh- and ninth-graders in the half-hour CPR course.

A low-cost CPR class that will be offered throughout the year at community centers is in the planning process.

In focus groups, Chavez encountered opposition with regard to owner liability and cost. The initiative is working to minimize both for owners of buildings willing to participate.

"The more places they have [AEDs], the more lives people can save," Terry adds. "You never know when something is going to happen or where something is going to happen."

·  25 percent of victims are under the age of 25.

·  It is most common in people ages 30 to 40, due to stress.

·  It is twice as likely to affect men as women.

·  Current survival rate in San Jose is 4 to 6 percent.

"” Courtesy of Darryl Von Raesfeld, San Jose Fire Department