HealthEast Receives $25,000 Grant to Help Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival

ST. PAUL, MN--(Marketwire - Apr 12, 2012) - In the United States more than 300,000 sudden cardiac arrests result in death each year. This year HealthEast has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the MN Resuscitation Consortium to help save lives.

"This grant will permit HealthEast Medical Transportation to augment its already excellent service with the additional capability to provide the very best state of the art cardiac arrest resuscitation. We are grateful for the kind endowment by the Consortium and look forward to further advances in pre-hospital care," Keith Wesley, MD, HealthEast Medical Transportation Medical Director.

The MN Resuscitation Consortium aims to increase survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) by connecting bystander, pre-hospital, and hospital initiatives to establish and implement a set of protocols that incorporate the latest technologies and proven treatment methods. This year the grant will be used by HealthEast Medical Transportation to improve sudden cardiac arrest survival in the east metro through education, training, and data collection.

"No one can predict the future. However, research has proven that the Lucas devices provide a greater opportunity for patients to successfully survive sudden cardiac arrest. Dakota County citizens and HealthEast patients are now blessed with a piece of equipment that may provide them with a better 'quality of life' after surviving cardiac arrest," said Jeffrey Groess, HealthEast Ambulance Operations Manager.

To reach the goal of improving sudden cardiac arrest survival, HealthEast Medical Transportation established the following objectives; establishing Heart Safe Communities Program in several east metro cities, implementing a performance improvement component to the Heart Safe Communities Program by providing feedback regarding SCA performance to first responders, EMT and paramedics within 48 hours of the event and sending 100% of SCA events to be entered into the CARES registry.

To learn more about SCA and the MN Resuscitation Consortium, please visit www.mrc.umn.edu

About HealthEast
HealthEast Care System is a community-focused, non-profit health care organization that provides innovative technology, compassionate care and a full spectrum of family health services. HealthEast includes Bethesda Hospital, St. John's Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital and Woodwinds Health Campus as well as outpatient services, clinics, home care and medical transportation services. HealthEast is the largest, locally-owned health care organization in the Twin Cities' East Metro with 7,400 employees and 1,400 physicians on staff.