Tim Russert's Passing

[Guest guest]

By now... most of you have heard about the death of Tim Russert, the

NBC News Washington, DC Bureau Chief and host of Meet the Press. Just

before 8PM, his doctor appeared on MSNBC to talk about what robbed us

of one of the best broadcast journalists to bless our country, and planet.

The villain, a familiar one... plaque ripped from an artery wall and

blocked the flow of blood to the heart. The blocked artery was the

same one that failed me about 14 years ago... the Left Anterior

Descending. Russert's blockage quickly triggered ventricular

arrhythmia, followed by Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

Oh for want of the device inside most of the readers of this forum,

Tim Russert might still be alive - looking forward to an historic

election that will hopefully change the course of our beloved country

for the better. Medics got to the NBC DC bureau quickly, and used an

external defibrillator... but it was too late to save the life of this

incredible news man.

Because like many of you, I survived my first encounter with a

potentially lethal heart beat - giving doctors a chance to diagnose my

problem and install one of the early Implantable

Cardioverter-Defibrillators. Since that implant two days after

Christmas, 1994... my ICD has saved me 10-times. Most readers of this

forum have had their life saved many more times than that, such as

Stacie in Indianapolis who has been rescued 22-hundred times!

Tonight we learned Russert KNEW he had cardiovascular health problems

but without a prior heart attack, he was not a candidate for a life

saving ICD implant. So tonight, we mourn his passing as there was no

shock of life - in time - to interrupt his fatal heart beat before it

stopped his heart forever.

Many of your friends and family members face the same predicament, who

can expect the same outcome without speedy access to defibrillation.

Barring an implant like the one for which we qualified, their only

hope is access to one of those fairly inexpensive automatic external

defibrillation units - an AED. Many years ago, we tried to launch a

campaign to make the external units more available to the public. We

had a few success, among a handful of school systems and public

arenas. Most airports now have them available as do most passenger

planes.

Maybe it's time we revive that effort, to urge more employers and

retailers to install these AED units to protect workers and the

public.. so the rest of the people in our country can have the same

kind of protection afforded you and me.

[Guest guest]

Sunday mornings, when that familiar Meet the Press sound came on, no matter what I am doing, I stop to watch the show. He always asked the questions that I would have asked. He will be missed!

Tim Russert's Passing

By now... most of you have heard about the death of Tim Russert, theNBC News Washington, DC Bureau Chief and host of Meet the Press. Justbefore 8PM, his doctor appeared on MSNBC to talk about what robbed usof one of the best broadcast journalists to bless our country, and planet.The villain, a familiar one... plaque ripped from an artery wall andblocked the flow of blood to the heart. The blocked artery was thesame one that failed me about 14 years ago... the Left AnteriorDescending. Russert's blockage quickly triggered ventriculararrhythmia, followed by Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Oh for want of the device inside most of the readers of this forum,Tim Russert might still be alive - looking forward to an historicelection that will hopefully change the course of our beloved countryfor the better. Medics got to the NBC DC bureau quickly, and used anexternal defibrillator... but it was too late to save the life of thisincredible news man. Because like many of you, I survived my first encounter with apotentially lethal heart beat - giving doctors a chance to diagnose myproblem and install one of the early ImplantableCardioverter-Defibrillators. Since that implant two days afterChristmas, 1994... my ICD has saved me 10-times. Most readers of thisforum have had their life saved many more times than that, such asStacie in Indianapolis who has been rescued 22-hundred times!Tonight we learned Russert KNEW he had cardiovascular health problemsbut without a prior heart attack, he was not a candidate for a lifesaving ICD implant. So tonight, we mourn his passing as there was noshock of life - in time - to interrupt his fatal heart beat before itstopped his heart forever.Many of your friends and family members face the same predicament, whocan expect the same outcome without speedy access to defibrillation. Barring an implant like the one for which we qualified, their onlyhope is access to one of those fairly inexpensive automatic externaldefibrillation units - an AED. Many years ago, we tried to launch acampaign to make the external units more available to the public. Wehad a few success, among a handful of school systems and publicarenas. Most airports now have them available as do most passengerplanes.Maybe it's time we revive that effort, to urge more employers andretailers to install these AED units to protect workers and thepublic.. so the rest of the people in our country can have the samekind of protection afforded you and me. ------------------------------------Be sure to visit and use other ZapLife.org services:The ZapperBBS at http://zaplife.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=11 - Email list forum at /2 - Email delivery of the Zapper Newsletter at 2/3 - Email list forum for those involved in ICD litigation at 3/ZapChat - Real time online support group (Thursdays 8PM EST) at http://www.zaplife.org/chat.htmlZapFAQs - A glossary of ICD/arrhythmia terms and abbreviations at http://www.zaplife.org/zap4.htmThe ZAPPER Home page at http://www.zaplife.org/

[Guest guest]

I too am so sad about Tim's passing. He asked better questions than I would have I'm afraid and that's why I always felt so much more informed after his program. I don't know that I trust anyone else to be as fair and as incisive as he was.

Brenta

Tim Russert's Passing

By now... most of you have heard about the death of Tim Russert, theNBC News Washington, DC Bureau Chief and host of Meet the Press. Justbefore 8PM, his doctor appeared on MSNBC to talk about what robbed usof one of the best broadcast journalists to bless our country, and planet.The villain, a familiar one... plaque ripped from an artery wall andblocked the flow of blood to the heart. The blocked artery was thesame one that failed me about 14 years ago... the Left AnteriorDescending. Russert's blockage quickly triggered ventriculararrhythmia, followed by Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Oh for want of the device inside most of the readers of this forum,Tim Russert might still be alive - looking forward to an historicelection that will hopefully change the course of our beloved countryfor the better. Medics got to the NBC DC bureau quickly, and used anexternal defibrillator... but it was too late to save the life of thisincredible news man. Because like many of you, I survived my first encounter with apotentially lethal heart beat - giving doctors a chance to diagnose myproblem and install one of the early ImplantableCardioverter-Defibrillators. Since that implant two days afterChristmas, 1994... my ICD has saved me 10-times. Most readers of thisforum have had their life saved many more times than that, such asStacie in Indianapolis who has been rescued 22-hundred times!Tonight we learned Russert KNEW he had cardiovascular health problemsbut without a prior heart attack, he was not a candidate for a lifesaving ICD implant. So tonight, we mourn his passing as there was noshock of life - in time - to interrupt his fatal heart beat before itstopped his heart forever.Many of your friends and family members face the same predicament, whocan expect the same outcome without speedy access to defibrillation. Barring an implant like the one for which we qualified, their onlyhope is access to one of those fairly inexpensive automatic externaldefibrillation units - an AED. Many years ago, we tried to launch acampaign to make the external units more available to the public. Wehad a few success, among a handful of school systems and publicarenas. Most airports now have them available as do most passengerplanes.Maybe it's time we revive that effort, to urge more employers andretailers to install these AED units to protect workers and thepublic.. so the rest of the people in our country can have the samekind of protection afforded you and me. ------------------------------------Be sure to visit and use other ZapLife.org services:The ZapperBBS at http://zaplife.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=11 - Email list forum at /2 - Email delivery of the Zapper Newsletter at 2/3 - Email list forum for those involved in ICD litigation at 3/ZapChat - Real time online support group (Thursdays 8PM EST) at http://www.zaplife.org/chat.htmlZapFAQs - A glossary of ICD/arrhythmia terms and abbreviations at http://www.zaplife.org/zap4.htmThe ZAPPER Home page at http://www.zaplife.org/