GH woman honored with Heartsaver award

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

It’s been nearly a year since Carol Putnam saved her husband’s life by doing all the right things. When Kirk Putnam suffered a heart attack at the couple’s home last July 19, his wife’s quick actions made all the difference in the world.

Putnam called 9-1-1 and began chest compressions. She kept the operator on the phone until the Gig Harbor Fire Department arrived with a defibrillator.

Earlier this month, in conjunction with National CPR and AED Awareness Week, she was awarded the American Heart Association’s Heartsaver Hero Award from the GHFD.

She learned CPR during basic training in the Army and, ironically, had recently seen a news brief on TV explaining how mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in conjunction with CPR was not necessary.

“They said they were finding that hands-only CPR was just as effective,” she said. “I told the 9-1-1 gal that he sounded like he was snoring. She said, ‘You’re doing a good job.’ ”

The couple was able to obtain a copy of the 9-1-1 tape.

“On the tape, you can hear the air coming out of my body,” Kirk said. “If you’re using hands-only and pushing on somebody’s chest, you’re bringing fresh air into someone’s lungs. With mouth-to-mouth, you’re getting carbon dioxide as opposed to fresh oxygen.”

Francesca Fabile, senior director of communications and marketing for the American Heart Association, said CPR classes are still teaching mouth-to-mouth, but studies have shown that CPR without it also can be effective.

“If someone is not comfortable with mouth-to-mouth, they can just do chest compression,” she said. “There’s enough oxygen in your blood and your lungs — the idea is to keep circulation going.

“It has become very, very simple over the years. The idea now is, just get to the chest. That’s the message we want to get out — that CPR is so simple.”

“Carol did an excellent job keeping the blood going through my body,” Kirk said. “I was so lucky. One minute could have made a huge difference.”

Fabile said the heart association’s goal is to get at least 1 million people in the United States trained in CPR.

Sudden cardiac arrest

The bad news:

It’s widespread. Each year, Emergency Medical Services treats nearly 300,000 victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

It’s unexpected. It can happen to anyone at any time. Many victims seem healthy with no known heart disease or other risk factors.

It’s urgent. Unless CPR and defibrillation are provided within minutes of collapse, few attempts at resuscitation are successful.

It’s deadly. More than 92 percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital will die from it.

It’s under-treated. Less than one-third of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest victims receive bystander CPR.

The good news:

It’s not hopeless. Effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest, can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival.

Source: The American Heart Association

Reach reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.