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More than 8,000 Coloradans die each year because of heart disease, making it the leading cause of death in the state. To address the growing need of cardiovascular care, a Littleton health center has cut the ribbon at a new facility for these types of patients. While this new institute will provide cardiovascular care much closer to home for many residents, two nurses are also working to save the lives of cardiac patients outside of the hospital's walls.
The AdventHealth Heart and Vascular Institute doors are now open in Littleton for its patients. Before opening the institute, patients in the area who needed a procedure to treat a serious heart condition had to travel at least 30 minutes to receive care. The institute will be able to provide services that include minimally invasive procedures, open heart surgery and intensive care.
To take it a step further, two nurses with the institute are bringing these new services beyond the hospital and into the area communities. Their actions are making an impact, and it includes teaching lifesaving techniques, while also leading a crusade to install defibrillators in everyday spaces.
"In 2018, my mom and dad came to my daughter's soccer game, which was outside of an elementary school, and my dad went into sudden cardiac arrest," said Kara Baker, a cardiac catheterization nurse.
It was a Saturday when it happened. Because the AED was locked inside of the school, Baker and her family didn’t have access to the lifesaving device. Her father had a history of heart disease and was taken to AdventHealth Littleton after going into cardiac arrest but did not survive.
"The irony of this story is that he spent a large chunk of his life putting AEDs inside of elementary schools, so the fact that he went into cardiac arrest outside of a school where we didn't have access to it was ... there were no words," Baker said. "I wanted to honor him with how I moved forward, and I wanted to carry on his legacy."
Baker has now pushed to install SaveStations that house a 24/7 accessible AED at nearby schools and outside of playgrounds, athletic fields and public parks.
"There's QR codes that the public can scan, and it tells them how to use it, what it is so it's easily recognizable no matter where you're at," Baker explained.
Thanks to support from AdventHealth Littleton Foundation, the health care system donated the outdoor AEDs. The foundation has also supported other lifesaving programs.
"There are so many people out in the community that don't know how to do CPR," said Jodi McAndrew, a cardiac diagnostics nurse practitioner. "I just feel like it's so important to take the medical out of it because it's such an overwhelming experience and people are so nervous about CPR. But, really, any of us can do it."
McAndrew said, according to the American Heart Association, 75% of cardiac arrests happen in the community.
"Fifty [percent] of those will actually get CPR, and CPR can double or triple someone's risk for survival out in the community," McAndrew said.
McAndrew launched an effort this year to bring CPR training into Littleton Public Schools, teaching teachers and educators, families and kids. She received mannequins to use for the training through AdventHealth Littleton Foundation. The class is a hybrid class with part of it online and part of it in person.
"Working with the families, now we're empowering all of these kids in our schools to recognize a heart attack, know what to do, know how to call 911, and, if they can't do CPR, they can tell another adult to go get an AED," McCandrew said.
McAndrew and Baker hope to help make the community safer for everyone.
"Just having anyone walking down the street that is comfortable doing chest compressions or finding an AED,we're going to make big changes in this community," McAndrew said.
McAndrew has been working with Ford Elementary School and Runyon Elementary School. She hopes to begin working with other schools, as well as boy scout and girl scout troops.
As part of the effort, nine SaveStations have been installed outside four middle schools, three high schools with Littleton Public Schools, and outside the school district's two stadiums -- Littleton Stadium and Centennial Stadium. These SaveStations were installed in December 2023.
In addition to the Littleton SaveStations, four others will be installed throughout Douglas County School District. The first station was installed recently at Redstone Elementary School, where Baker's father went into cardiac arrest.
Baker's goal is to start a nonprofit organization, the Ed Walsh Memorial Foundation, to continue the effort.
"I'm hoping to continue to give back to the community and just keep popping these SaveStations out so that what happened to my dad doesn't happen to somebody else," Baker said.