Advertisement

Raising cardiac care awareness

Share

The Rescue Heart Foundation presented an automated external defibrillator (AED) to the Boys & Girls Club of the Harbor Area on Friday.

The group chose the location because the club approached them for lessons in CPR and first aid, Rescue Heart founder and Chief Executive Angela Howell-Edgerly wrote in an email.

“They didn’t have an AED,” she said. “My husband, Christopher Edgerly, did their CPR and first-aid training. They care for children up to the age of 18, and as you often hear, young children and athletes can have sudden cardiac arrest. People often forget about the adults that are caring for them also.

Advertisement

“Wherever there is human life, one of these life-saving devices can be critical in the outcome of an emergency situation.”

Newport Beach resident Lynda Zussman, whose daughter died after suffering cardiac failure in New York’s Central Park, was on hand to support Rescue Heart. Lauren Zussman’s death at age 26 helped inspire the creation of Rescue Heart, Howell-Edgerly said.

Rescue Heart’s 2012 mission is to place AEDs in Central Park in Lauren Zussman’s memory, Howell-Edgerly said.

Howell-Edgerly will also ride her bike across America this summer from St. Augustine, Fla., to San Diego to raise funds.

“It is our hope that we can raise more awareness of cardiovascular disease and place more AEDs in the community,” Howell-Edgerly said.

For more information, visit https://www.rescueheart.org.

— Jamie Rowe

Twitter: @JamieRowe3

Advertisement