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Can Skyaid reduce denial about heart attack and strokes?  Henry Lahore
 Oct 18, 2000 16:06 PDT 
People can be in denial about a subject if they feel there is no hope.
People without hope do not want to acknowledge it, think about it, or talk about it.

Denial subjects include: Alcoholism, Cancer, AIDS, Heart Attack, Stroke.
Skyaid can provide legitimate cause for hope

Heart Attack denial phrases:
- How embarrassing if it’s just heartburn,
- I’m not sure if my pain fits the warning signs
- I’m too young to have a heart attack,      
- The pain’s not that bad; I’ll wait awhile and see if it goes away
- Only men get heart attacks,                  
- I’m as healthy as a horse
- I can’t be having a heart attack.
However, cardiovascular disease is the #1 cause of death in most countries. Each year there are 1.5 million acute heart attacks in the
US. Some people have more than a 40% chance of dying of cardiovascular disease within 10 years.

*** Stroke Denial:
I will not get a stroke
- yet 750,000 Americans get a stroke (brain attack) every year
- 1/3 of stroke victims are younger than 65.
I will not get another stroke
-yet 22-35% get another stroke within 3 years

Even people who are very likely to get hit by a second heart attack or stroke are unaware that consequences can be reduced.

Yet there is hope that the consequences of these deadly adversaries can be reduced.

** Skyaid has an opportunity to reduce the consequences of many heart attacks, sudden cardiac arrests and strokes by offering:

- Skyaid Watch: A wristwatch which can save your life
     Get emergency help more quickly http://www.skyaid.org/LifeWatch/life_watch.htm
        - automatically during a sudden cardiac arrest, which is the cause of 300,000 US deaths per year

- Faster emergency medical assistance
* via ground at first - the Skyaid Watch reducing the response delay by about 2 minutes in US urban areas
* via the air later - expanding the coverage area while reducing the total response time to less than 5 minutes bringing an automatic
external defibrillator for sudden cardiac arrests
       Chart http://www.skyaid.org/images/survive_SCA2.gif
       Details: http://www.skyaid.org/Skyaid%20Org/Medical/survive_SCA.htm

- Stroke diagnosis: pre-hospital is now possible
    Some simple observations & a glucose test before getting to the hospital are all that are required.
     http://www.skyaid.org/Skyaid%20Org/Medical/Stroke.htm
      Having the EMS organizations cool stroke patients will require both approval and EMS training

- Stroke victims cooled while being transported to hospital have far fewer deaths
http://www.skyaid.org/Skyaid%20Org/Medical/brain_damage_from_stroke_reduced.htm

Adding this capability to the EMS vehicle will require approval, EMS training, and cooling equipment

- Transportation to critical care center when appropriate (heart attack, stroke (brain attack), etc.)
It is essential to get to a critical care center in < 2 hours!!
                   
http://www.skyaid.org/Skyaid%20Org/Medical/thrombolysis_after_stroke.htm
         Brain damage is greatly reduced if blood flow is re-established in less than 2 hours
         Also, there are far fewer subsequent stroke deaths if treated at a Stroke Unit (stroke center).
    Unfortunately most EMS are paid to only transport potential stroke victims to the nearest hospital,
    By the time a victim might get moved to a stroke center it has usually been too late to stop brain damage with tPA.
This may require creating and providing a special insurance to pay EMS for the longer transport.

- Education: using a variety of methods in a variety of languages:  for prevention and/or reduction of consequences
Methods include: on-line reading, slide shows, discussions, weekly meetings, stories (text, recorded, live),..

I anticipate the above Skyaid services would be offered thru subscriptions for people over age 40 who are at risk.
    -Note: Stroke, heart attack and cardiac arrest share many of the same risk factors

I feel that Skyaid may be successful communicating to people who can give a 'gift of life' - subscription by relatives of people who have already had a heart attack, cardiac arrest, or stroke rather than trying to communicate directly to people who are at risk

Currently Sudden Cardiac Arrest is survived 1% of the time without EMS and 6% with.
When the Skycar becomes available the survival should increase to 25% without Skyaid Watch and 65% with Skyaid Watch.

On the international scene it may be possible to have Skyaid Watch
subscribers subsidize the lifesaving Skycar for the rest of the population of an urban area.

- - - If time is money, how much is a year worth?
Survey Questions:
1) Should we market Skyaid as a 'gift of life' to be given? people at risk too much in denial.
2) Should we try to reduce stroke deaths by influencing EMS with stroke tests, cooling, insurance, etc.?
3) Should we try to have the international subscriptions subsidize the use by those unable to pay?

Please reply with your comments - either
** post them publicly at the on-line discussion thread or
** send a private e-mail to me 
     (modified e-mail address)
Henry Lahore of Skyaid.org
206-898-9431