Tag Archive for: defibrillator

Fort Frances Family Health Team Gets a MIKEY

The Fort Frances Family Health team in Fort Frances, ON, received their MIKEY recently and they were kind enough to send us some pictures of the team with their new defibrillator.  What a great looking group!!

For the last three years the clinic has tried to get a defibrillator from the Ontario Government for their small Northwestern Ontario town. Once we heard about their situation we were able to provide one within 2 weeks.

Defibrillators should be as common in public as fire extinguishers. They should certainly be made available in every health clinic. We’re glad we could help make Fort Frances just a little bit safer.

Health Team with Mikey Defibrilator

mikey defibrillator

Mikey On Board with Two Men And A Truck Featured On CTV News

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CTV News Barrie coverage of our Mikey On Board partnership with Two Men And A Truck.

As part of the Mikey On Board program, all TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Canada moving trucks are now equipped with a MIKEY defibrillator.

two men and a truckA special thanks to Stewart Smith and his team at Two Men And A Truck for telling our story so well!

City News Toronto: CPR Lesson Turns Into A Real Life MIKEY Rescue

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Tom Hayes from City News Toronto, reports on the quick thinking teachers at Silverhorn Collegiate Highschool that used a MIKEY to save a 17 year old student.

The MIKEY was placed at the school through our Mikey’s Young At Heart School Defibrillator Program.

Part 1 (5:30 Newscast)

Part 2 (6:00 Newscast)

A Close Call and The Heros That Answered It In Aurora

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MIKEY defibrilatorEarlier this month, we received a letter that touched all of our hearts.  It was the kind of happy news we love to get here at The Mikey Network.  We wanted to share it with you, the Mikey family,  because you make this happen.  Your support allows us to place MIKEYs (AEDs) where they are needed.  Your support saves lives.

We also want to congratulate the staff at  Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex for the way they handled this emergency.  You are truly heros!

Here is the letter, reprinted with permission:

 

Hello Mikey Network!

I wanted to share my story with you and say thank you, since the Mikey Network has put several AED units in the Town of Aurora facilities including the one specifically at the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex.

On Monday August 8, 2011 we performed CPR on a woman approximately 65 years old from the Cobblestone Retirement Lodge in Aurora who was attending a leisure swim at 2pm at the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex pool.  The lady came in complaining of thirst before the swim started.  When the lifeguard checked on her 15 minutes later she said she still felt unwell, was having difficultly breathing and was holding her chest.

The Lifeguard removed her from the pool and took her to the lifeguard office where she transferred her care to two other lifeguards on off duty rotation.  They assessed her, checked pulse and approximately 10 minutes later she started to have what appeared to be a seizure with no history of seizure disorder.  She collapsed, they placed her on the floor, checked breathing and pulse and determined she was VSA.  They started CPR, another lifeguard activated EMS.   My full time Deck Supervisor notified the aquatic staff to clear the pool and he then ran to get the AED unit off the wall and notified me on the way as my office is located right beside the AED unit.

Meanwhile the two lifeguards only got to 15 compressions and the lady came to.  They monitored her breathing and pulse and kept her airway open.  They had just stopped CPR when my FT staff and I arrived on scene in the lifeguard office.  I passed out gloves to all my staff and I applied the AED pads to the patient and the unit immediately assessed the victim.  It told us, “No Shock Advised” and to start CPR (which I thought was odd, because the patient was awake), but almost instantly she went unconscious, staff assessed Nonbreathing/No Pulse and started CPR, my full time staff person gave her only 5 compressions and she came to again.

She starting speaking to me at that point and was coherent, giving us emergency contact information of her brother including his phone number while the unit completed another analysis.  A few minutes later she went unconscious again for the third time, we checked breathing and I started compressions giving her approximately 12 compressions before she came to again, approximately 1 minute later EMS arrived on scene and took over care.

She was transported to South Lake Regional Hospital, and was released that evening at 8:30pm!!! Can you believe it? 
My staff were amazing, it was a very busy leisure swim, with almost 200 people in the pool.  
All have returned back to work and are thrilled by the outcome.


Our thanks goes to the Mikey Network, because it’s not everyday that one gets the privilege to save another persons life!

Loriann Ierullo
Aquatic Supervisor
Parks and Recreation Services
Town of Aurora

 

Thank you again to Lorainn and her staff for their heroic action, and for reminding us that  “it’s not everyday that one gets the privilege to save another persons life!”

Mikey’s Kids – The Mikey At Home Program

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Mikey Kids

Mikey's Kids - Mikey At Home ProgramThe Sick Kids Hospital and The Mikey Network have developed the Mikey’s Kids Program. This program allows children who have been diagnosed with a heart disease to go home while waiting for treatment or transplants. These children would not be discharged from the hospital without receiving a Mikey unit.

SickKids Hospital is an important partner in an initiative aimed at children, called the Mikey’s Kids Program. The Network supplies Mikeys to families whose children have serious heart conditions so they and their families can leave the hospital knowing that a Mikey is at hand should their heart happen to skip a beat.

The Mikey Network’s mission involves helping people of all ages, and it has been gratifying to help so many families through the Network’s partnership with SickKids Hospital.

“The Mikey Kids-at-Home program ensures that families from all parts of Ontario, whose children have life-threatening heart conditions, have access to life-saving AED technology,” says Dr. Joel Kirsh. “This provides high-risk patients, their families and their medical team at SickKids wonderful piece of mind.”

Social workers at The Labatt Family Heart Centre at SickKids wrote, “Through the generosity of The Mikey Network in supplying defibrillators for the children and training for their caregivers, these children are able to be at home when they might not have otherwise been able to safely do so.”

The peace of mind these Mikeys provide for families is priceless, knowing that should their child’s heart skip a beat, life-saving help is close at hand.

Letter of Appreciation

Dear Mikey Network,

There are times in everyone’s lives when words just aren’t big enough to express what we would like to say.  This is one of those times for us.  There simply are not enough words in order to be able to properly thank you for having donated an AED to our family.

I can’t begin to tell you what we felt when we were told that Kyle, our 9 year old son, has Long QT or sudden death syndrome.  We knew that his collapsing and fainting wasn’t normal, however, it never prepared us for the possibilty of Long QT. It was if the bottom of our world fell out and we were left stranded. To be told that our only child could collapse and die at any given moment without warning is overwhelming.  To be unable to prevent it is even worse.

However, thanks to you and your organization’s donation of the AED, we now have the one tool that will enable us to save our son’s life when he collapses again.  Without the AED, I don’t know where or what we would be doing.  It helps us get back to a more normal life, knowing that we have a chance to save our son in the event that his heart stops again.

The gift that you have given our family is the gift of our son’s life and for that we have really no appropriate words that will express to you just how thankful we are.   Thank you for helping us in such a difficult time.

Should there be anything that we could do to pay this gift forward, please don’t hesitate to ask.  It would be our pleasure to offer any assistance possible.

Yours truly,
Jone Wright, David and Kyle Hunter

Mikey’s Kids Program Helps Families

Mikey Kids Program“The Mikey’s Kids Program ensures that families from all parts of Ontario, whose children have life-threatening heart conditions, have access to life-saving AED technology,” says Dr. Joel Kirsh of SickKids Hospital – one of The Mikey Network’s critical partners. “The availability of an AED for these high-risk patients gives the families (and their medical team here at SickKids) wonderful piece of mind.”

In July, The Mikey Network received a letter from social workers Laurie DeOliveira, Ruta Niedra and Kim Thompson of The Labatt Family Heart Centre at SickKids. They wrote, “We would like this opportunity to extend our thanks to you and The Mikey Network for your generous donations of defibrillators for several families that have recently been seen in the Labatt Family Heart Centre, either as in-patients or out-patients. Through the generosity of The Mikey Network in supplying defibrillators for the children and training for their caregivers, these children are able to be at home when they might not have otherwise been able to safely do so.”

The Network recently donated a Mikey to the Van Hees family of Burlington. Melanie and James’ two-year-old son Jakob has ventricular tachycardia, which places him at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. “Both our families have cottages near Kingston,” Melanie says, “and we wouldn’t feel comfortable going there – or anywhere else – without the security of the Mikey. We appreciate everything The Mikey Network stands for.”

Portable Reassurance

Mikey At Home ProgramHaving one child with a heart condition is stressful, but Laurie Hobbs is raising three young children who are at risk of developing the same heart-related diseases their father died of at age 31- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Long QT Syndrome. Knowing that at any time, Joshua (13), Owen (4) and Tyler (2) might experience cardiac arrest, Laurie is on constant alert for anything that might cause an adrenaline release and possibly trigger the condition. In 2006, through Toronto’s SickKids Hospital (a critical partner in The Mikey Network), we donated two MIKEYS to Laurie to help her and her family.

“It’s a difficult diagnosis for parents to deal with,” Laurie says. “My husband was never diagnosed with these conditions, which is why he passed away. I had a difficult time coping until we received the MIKEYS, which have made a huge difference in all our lives.” Thanks to the MIKEYS, Laurie was able to take the children to their cottage last summer, where she says they have wonderful memories of their dad. “The MIKEY is easy to carry,” she adds. “I take it everywhere, even to WalMart. I feel like I’m a better mother with the defibrillator so handy.” Laurie and most of her family members have been trained by Toronto EMS in how to use the MIKEYS. “What a coincidence that my husband’s name was also Mike,” she says. “Helping to save lives is a wonderful way to honour Mike Salem’s memory.”