To kick off American Heart Month, Mercy Hospital Springfield reunited heart patients and their doctors on Thursday evening. Four individuals were highlighted during the event, including Harriet Henderson, who celebrated her 101st birthday that day.
“It’s really a pleasure to start Heart Month, Feb. 1, with these amazing stories: stories of life, stories of success, stories of survival, stories of hearts recovered,” said Dr. Gerard Oghlakian, who leads Mercy’s cardiology team.
CPR can be an invaluable tool
The importance of CPR education and training was underscored in two cases: Gary Locke’s heart attack and Helen Henson’s heart attack.
Locke came home after a run, complaining of not feeling well, and collapsed before he and his wife could leave for the hospital. His wife performed CPR for 12 minutes until EMS arrived.
“That truly is why he is here today, because (his wife) did bystander CPR,” said Dr. Jessica Birchem. “That’s one thing we need to educate our community about and how to do it. Educate our kids, teach our friends, tell them to learn how to do it, because (CPR) is why he got to the hospital.”