2013-02-05 17:02:22 -
Rubio Helps Web Visitors Save a "Virtual" Life at HeartRescueNow.com
MINNEAPOLIS, February 5, 2013 -Minnesota Timberwolves basketball star Ricky
Rubio joins the Medtronic Foundation this February in saving young lives
worldwide from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Through the Foundation's HeartRescue
Project, Rubio will lend a "virtual" hand in teaching the public how to respond
quickly to an SCA emergency.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes-every
three days a young athlete dies of SCA in the United States. According to the
American Academy of Pediatrics 2,000 Americans under the age of 25 die of SCA
annually, and the risk of SCA is three times greater in competitive athletes.
Overall, nearly 385,000 Americans die from SCA each year, more than breast,
lung, colon, and prostate cancer combined.
Now
with the help of Rubio, the HeartRescue Project is unveiling the latest
life-saving innovation, an interactive online experience called the "Save-A-Life
Simulator" found on HeartRescueNow.com. Using first person point-of-view
videos, the viewer joins Rubio for a workout at the gym where they both witness
a person collapse from SCA.
In the "choose your own adventure" style videos, Rubio helps guide visitors
through a series of critical choices, starting with an initial decision to help
the victim or ignore the situation and keep working out.
The online experience promotes proper and timely bystander response to SCA,
using hands-only CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED). The hope is
that Rubio's involvement will draw attention to the prevalence of SCA and its
effect among young athletes, as well as provide a quick and basic technique for
saving the life of an SCA victim.
"Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, even healthy athletes," says Ricky
Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves point guard. "Knowing how to quickly respond to
this kind of crisis can help save someone's life - including a teammate or
friend of yours."
In addition to the Simulator, Rubio and Timberwolves players will attend clinics
hosted at Twin Cities' schools in February as part of the Timberwolves'
FastBreak Foundation WolvesFit month. These clinics will focus on health and
fitness and show students the importance of responding to a victim of SCA -
knowing that it could happen to anyone in their school.
A corresponding public service announcement (PSA) featuring Rubio will air
nationally and at home Timberwolves games, driving viewers to HeartRescueNow.com
to access the interactive online learning tool. Both the PSA and simulator
featuring Rubio were also created in Spanish to reach a wider audience.
SCA is a sudden, abrupt loss of heart function primarily caused by rapid and/or
chaotic electrical activity. It occurs without warning and renders a person
clinically dead within minutes unless treated with CPR and defibrillation.
In 2012, the HeartRescue Project produced the original "Save-a-Life Simulator"
featuring an SCA victim amid a busy shopping mall and is also accessible on
HeartRescueNow.com. This was the first-ever online experience that strung
together many of the possible reactions to witnessing SCA in real time. Since
its launch, more than 5 million people have learned how to save a life.
About the HeartRescue Project
The HeartRescue Project assembles some of the country's leading emergency and
resuscitation experts to expand successful city and county SCA response programs
to statewide levels. The goal is to improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
survival rates by at least 50 percent over five years in the geographies funded
by the program. Learn more about the HeartRescue Project at
www.heartrescueproject.com.
About the Medtronic Foundation
The Medtronic Foundation is committed to improving the lives of people around
the world living with chronic disease, with a majority of its support
thoughtfully aligned with Medtronic's commitment to expand access to quality
healthcare among underserved populations. In addition, Medtronic Foundation
supports heath initiatives in communities where Medtronic employees live and
give. www.medtronicfoundation.org
About Medtronic
Medtronic, Inc. (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Minneapolis, is the global
leader in medical technology - alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending
life for millions of people around the world.
###
Contacts:
Rich Fischer
Public Relations
+1-763-505-2975
Annie Dubsky
Exponent PR
+1-612-305-6376
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Medtronic, Inc. via Thomson Reuters ONE
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