Michael J. Monteleone was 14, strong and athletic, when he collapsed May 9 after baseball practice at Lincoln High School. He had an undiagnosed heart defect, and when it struck him down, no one could save him.
Kaitlin Forbes, 15, collapsed during gym class just two days later at Rhinebeck High School in Westchester County, N.Y. A member of the volleyball, basketball and softball teams, she was as surprising a heart attack victim as Monteleone.
But in New York, all schools are required to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Forbes got CPR and immediate defibrillation, and she survived.
This, says Dr. Paul Brandon, is what the Southeast New England Heartsafe Community Foundation is all about: saving lives.
Every year, about 335,000 Americans die from heart disease without being hospitalized, including about 3,000 people ages 15 to 34, according to the American Heart Association. More than half are caught by surprise, with no previous symptoms.
Without immediate assistance, 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die, the heart association says. With CPR, they can double their chances of survival. But with quick CPR and an AED shock within three to five minutes, the reported survival rates are as high as 48 to 74 percent.
“We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of lives,” says Brandon, a cardiologist at South County Hospital who established the Heartsafe Foundation last year with a small group of his colleagues to promote AEDs, help schools and recreational leagues to buy them, and provide training in CPR and defibrillation.
The group got strong support from the hospital, the heart association, Amica Insurance and several other doctors and local officials.
South Kingstown athletic director Bob Cavanagh embraced the concept and became a “one-man army” rallying for AEDs, Brandon said. The Narragansett Little League mandated CPR training and got a defibrillator. But many others to whom Brandon reached out, he says, didn’t share his sense of urgency, even though his presentation included stories of three teens who had died from sudden cardiac arrest in other states.
In January, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League sent out an advisory recommending AEDs. Education Commissioner Peter McWalters has also endorsed them, but still, nothing.
Then Michael Monteleone died.
“Now we have, unfortunately, a poster child for the cause,” Brandon says. “We’re such a reactive society that that’s often what it takes.”
Since Michael’s death, several school districts and towns have rushed to buy AEDs, Brandon says, but even now, the efforts in some places are haphazard.
Brandon’s group is working with the heart association and the state Department of Health to create a statewide “heartsafe” program, with extensive CPR and AED training and systematic efforts to ensure there’s an AED at every school, at every athletic facility, and in every public gathering place where it could save lives.
And while the task is still daunting, Brandon has a compelling new ally: Anthony Monteleone, Michael’s father. Like the parents of young heart attack victims in New York, Pennsylvania and a few other states, Monteleone has now become a strong advocate for AEDs.
After Michael’s death, the Monteleones and a Lincoln rescue captain began raising funds to help communities buy AEDs and train people to use them. Upon learning of Brandon’s work, Monteleone decided to join his effort, and create a fund within the Heartsafe Foundation.
“I want to keep my son’s name alive,” he says, “and help other people so no other family has to go through what we’ve gone through.”
On Sept. 2, Monteleone and Brandon held a news conference to announce the establishment of the new Michael J. Monteleone Memorial Fund. They’ve scheduled a fund-raising dinner on Oct. 18 at Spain restaurant in Cranston. Any support – items to auction, ticket purchases, direct contributions – would be appreciated, Monteleone says.
“There’s so many businesses in Rhode Island, and this is something that’s going to help all communities,” he says.
Monteleone’s first priority has been Lincoln, which now has eight AEDs. “Hopefully we never get to use them,” he says. Next on Monteleone’s list are school districts and community sports teams across the state.
For more information about the Southeast New England Heartsafe Community Foundation, go to www.heartsafeaed.org.
