Mikey Network Celebrates Family Day

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At the Mikey Network, we truly understand the value that family has, as it encompasses so much of the projects and programs that we do as an organization. One of them being the Mikey’s Kids program, which provides MIKEY’s (AED’s) to families that have children with life-threatening heart conditions.

Our experience working with these families is rewarding beyond measure, as providing a MIKEY offers a child protection in case of a sudden cardiac arrest, and offers the family peace of mind to know that their child is safe in case an incident were to occur.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Mikey’s Kid’s program, go to https://mikeyskids.org/. It has tools, resources, and stories of Mikey Families.

Our work doesn’t rely solely on just families with heart-related illnesses though, as there are 6,500 children and teens that experience SCA in Ontario every year.

Knowing that youth are particularly vulnerable when their hearts skip a beat is alarming, which is why we created the Mikey Young at Heart Program to help give peace of mind to families in the community as well as make our schools safer.

The MYAH program works in two parts. One area focuses on the placement of AED’s in schools all over Ontario, while the other part focuses on educating students on how to perform CPR and how to use an AED, through the MYAH app.

To date, 500 MIKEY AED’s have been placed in schools including the Toronto District School Board, Peel District School Board, Halton District School Board, Halton Catholic District School Board, and the Limestone District School Board. While the MYAH app has had 2,479 students signed up to date.

If you would like to share a special story about your family with us, please reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

 

 

February is Heart Month!

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This February is Heart Month in Canada. Promoted by Health Canada, this month aims to raise awareness for heart-related illnesses and causes, while encouraging Canadians to take steps to improve upon their own heart health.

The significance of Heart month is still not lost on Canadians, as Heart disease is still one of the leading causes of death in Canada. In 2017 alone, heart disease affected 2.4 million Canadian Adults.

Fortunately, we can all reduce the risk of heart disease by making healthier lifestyle choices, including quitting smoking, eating a healthy and balanced diet, getting the proper amount of sleep, exercising regularly and monitoring our blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Throughout the month of February, we will be sharing heart-healthy tips on our blog, as well as on our social media channels to help you to improve your heart health. Below are some key heart health tips that you should aim to keep all year round.

Heart Healthy Tips

  1. DO NOT SMOKE: if you have never smoked, don’t start. If you do smoke, quit. You will increase your life by 5 years for every year you are smoke free.
  2. Enjoy a balanced, nutritious diet. Limit fat intake to between 15% and 30% of your total number of daily calories.
  3. Exercise regularly, 20 minutes 3-4 times per week, or a minimum of a brisk walk daily.
  4. Moderate your intake of alcohol. Guidelines by Health Canada suggest limits of two drinks per day…either 12 oz. Beer, or 5 oz. Wine or 1.5 oz. Spirits.
  5. Limit your intake of salt and caffeine. (No more than the equivalent of four regular cups of coffee per day.)
  6. Try to get 8 hours of sleep each night.
  7. Have regular check-ups with your physician. Early detection is the key to a successful solution.
  8. Keep a positive attitude and wear a smile… it takes only 22 muscles to smile, but 37 to frown.
  9. Make time for leisure activities such as reading, hobbies, sports, TV etc.
  10. Invest in CPR and AED education and training, and encourage your family and friends to do the same.

 

The MIKEY Network Year In Review

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Meet Some Mikey Hero’s

A life saved by 17-year-old Mikey trained student Kayley of Toronto!

“I was walking in downtown Toronto on Labour Day Monday
with my grandmother when we noticed people making a fuss.
There was a man on the ground and he was blue in colour.
Automatically I knew something was wrong!

My grandmother grabbed my backpack and I knelt down
beside him to perform CPR. I got to just over 30 compressions
and he started to make a wheezing noise. There were people
standing around but nobody else knew how to properly
perform CPR.

I knew CPR because I went through the Mikey Young
At Heart App. Going through the videos and quizzes
gave me the confidence to act immediately and without
fear. I knew what to do and I knew if I did it, this man
would have a better chance of survival.”

The Martin Family’s AEDs for Schools campaign was a huge success, getting AEDs into all Ottawa Public Schools!

We’re proud to share the amazing news that The Martin family have succeeded in their goal to get MIKEYs placed in every public school in the Ottawa-Carleton area!

In February of 2017, while playing with friends at recess, Griffin Martin suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. The staff jumped into action immediately, but unfortunately, they nor the emergency personnel who arrived afterwards could revive him.

After learning more about the incident, the family learned that there was no AED at Griffin’s school. If an AED was available during their son’s cardiac arrest, he may have stood a better chance of surviving. In fact, 78 of the 119 Ottawa public elementary schools do not currently have an AED available.

To honour Griffin’s memory the family created a campaign to raise money for the installation of AED’s in every school in the Ottawa area, including Orlean’s Wood, Griffin Martin’s elementary school.

We helped the Martins launch their AEDs for Schools – Remember Griffin campaign at the end of September and in just a few weeks the Martins raised close to $20,000. CBC News interviewed Griffin’s parents, Andrea and Damien, and The Mikey Network President, Eva Naumovski, and news stories ran online, in print, and on the radio, nationwide.

All of this activity quickly got the attention of senior staff within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. It turns out that the OCDSB already had the money for the AED’s and was planning to install them in phases over the next year. The main hurdle that the school board faced to placing them sooner was a lack of training among staff and an unclear plan for how the machines would be maintained.

They announced in October, that they will begin the installation of Mikey defibrillators in all of their school’s by September 2018.

The OCDSB has partnered with the Ottawa Paramedic Service, which oversees close to 1,200 defibrillators in public places across Ottawa. A spokesperson for the OPS has stated that the schools will be responsible to maintain the AED’s, but they will assist in fixing any problems should they arise.

“The Mikey Network was proud to work with the Martin family to bring awareness to their cause. We couldn’t be
happier to share this amazing accomplishment to honour their late son!” Said The Mikey Network President,
Eva Naumovski.

Two More Local Heroes

Tom Condotta and Darlene Fournier jumped in to help a man whose heart had stopped during a recreational volleyball league game in March at Chinguacousy Secondary School. This incident had a happy ending, thanks to the two educators’ quick response and knowledge of CPR/AED. Read more here. 

Canada’s 911 Ride was a huge success!

Every year the Canada 911 Foundation holds an annual
motorcycle ride called Canada’s 911 Ride, to raise funds and
awareness for families of fallen emergency service personnel,
children who were victims of violent crimes, and The Mikey
Network. This year’s event was hugely successful and
involved lots of fun, emotional stories, and the thunderous
roar of motorcycle engines. READ MORE…

Luke ctv news

Family credits defibrillator for saving son’s life | CTV Toronto News

CTV News Toronto recently ran a story about Luke Pignatelli,
one of the young people who are now equipped with their
own life-saving MIKEY AED.

The Pignatelli family in Aurora have more than one reason to be grateful to The Mikey Network. Last year their 13-year-old son Luke suffered a cardiac arrest when exercising in his school gym.
Firefighters revived him with a defibrillator and he was rushed to SickKids hospital. He recovered but doctors couldn’t determine the exact cause of his problem and so he was given a temporary pacemaker.

Still, his parents were worried that it could happen again, especially during their long trips north to the family cottage.
So through their Young at Heart program, The Mikey Network provided a portable MIKEY AED that Luke can take with him
wherever he goes.

Because the doctors think the problem might be genetic, Luke’s two brothers were also provided with a MIKEY that can always be on hand at their swim classes. And Luke’s grandfather who also has a
history of heart problems has his own MIKEY as well.

With so many family members afforded the peace of mind offered by their MIKEYs, the Pignatelli family all participated in this year’s annual Walk for Life fundraiser. They encourage everyone to do the same, so that more life-saving MIKEYs can be placed in public locations and provided to people whose lives can depend on them.
WATCH VIDEO…

Please help The Mikey Network!

These are just a few of the great things that happened this year. The Mikey Network receives no government funding so all of our initiatives depend on the generosity of Team Mikey and those who support us.

Thanks to the generosity of our corporate sponsors HERITY and
Heathwood Homes, 100% of your donations go to promoting
heart health and placing life-saving MIKEYs in key locations.

This holiday season, please consider making a donation in
your name or on behalf of a friend or loved one. We will
gladly send an announcement card on your behalf, as
well as providing a tax receipt for all gifts over $00.
This holiday season and all through the year to come,
it’s in your heart to help!

With your help, The Beat Goes On…

The Mikey Network helps out Iqaluit

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The Mikey Network has reached as far south as Haiti to help people who are in need of a defibrillator, and now we’ve placed a MIKEY near the top of the world.

Recently, Joamie School, a K-5 school of approximately 260 students and 30 staff, contacted us about their need for a defibrillator.  Located in  Iqaluit, Nunavut; it is one of the most northerly inhabited places in Canada.

The Joamie school’s need for an AED stems from it striving to provide a safer environment for not only the students of Iqaluit but also the residents of the community that often use the school for group meetings or sports activities.

Being so geographically remote and having such a harsh wintery climate make it very difficult for first responders to address health emergencies quickly in Iqaluit. So the school reached out to us for help. Having a MIKEY defibrillator on-site is the only way it could be used in time should a cardiac emergency occur.

Now that the Joamie School has their MIKEY, school staff and students are learning how to use and operate the AED, and staff are seeking out ways that they can promote a more heart-healthy lifestyle in the community.

After installing their MIKEY they were kind enough to send us this picture. “Nakurmiik” (also written in syllabics) means “Thank you” in Inuktitut. How amazing are these kids!? We hope they never have to use their MIKEY but we sure are glad they have one.

 

 

 

Marnie, Daniel, and Lars have peace of mind thanks to their MIKEY Defibrillator

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The Mikey Network is happy to share this photo of Marnie, Daniel, and Lars, one of our Mikey’s Kids families, during their recent family trip. Marnie and Daniel initially connected with The Mikey Network two years ago, after their son Lars was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome.

For parents with children who have heart problems like Long QT Syndrome, having a portable defibrillator can literally be the difference between life and death. Our Mikey’s Kids program provides MIKEYs to families of children who would often not even be able to leave the hospital without one. Having a MIKEY AED on hand and ready to help save their child’s life offers them great peace of mind, and the freedom to live a more normal life.

After recently catching up with the family, we’re happy to report that they’re all healthy and that Lars has yet to experience any LQTS related incidents. This is welcome news to Marnie, who also suffers from LQTS, and has had few incidents since her diagnosis and cardiac arrest in 1999. Although both Marnie and Lars have had few incidents, they understand the need of always being prepared and they make sure to take their MIKEY with them wherever they go.

If you’re interested in helping more families like the Blair family, you can support the Mikeys Kids program by making a donation.