Key points from today’s guests:

Morning Rounds – Update on the Latest News

Olivia Desmarais, R.N., injury prevention education specialist, The University of Kansas Health System

• CarFit was designed by AARP, AAA, and the American Occupational Therapy Association to address how older adults fit in their car.
• We know that if we are fitting in our car properly, we'll be less likely to be in an accident. And if we aren't an accident, these tips can help to reduce injuries.
• CarFit is a 12-point checklist that goes through all of the different ways that we should fit into our car properly.
• For example, we want to make sure that mirrors are adjusted properly so we can see adequately see our blind spots, decreasing the risk of a collision.
• These tips can help ensure that you fit properly in your vehicle, which can not only make you a safer driver, but help make you safer in case you are in a collision.

Focus Topic

Kim White, survived cardiac arrest

• In 2021, Kim was diagnosed with cardiac sarcoidosis, it can lead to scarring of the heart and interrupt the heart’s ability to keep a rhythm.
• On Friday the 13th this past May, Kim collapsed at her home. Her daughter was there visiting and immediately called 911 and began CPR.
• First responders arrived quickly and took action before getting Kim to The University of Kansas Health System.
• She was told only eight percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest in the home survive, but thanks to the quick actions of her daughter, EMS, and hospital staff, she is alive today to advocate for learning CPR.
• She was born in this hospital, was treated for cancer in this hospital and had her life saved in this hospital, so she is so grateful for everyone there.

Kristen Halpin, Kim’s daughter

• Kristen’s “fight or flight” instincts kicked in and she acted quickly to help her mother.
• Kristen actually did not know CPR. When she called 911, the operator was great about providing clear directions on what to do until EMS arrived.
• Kristen has now taken CPR classes and encourages others to do so.

Brittany Youngquist, firefighter, Leawood Fire Department

• Brittany was part of the EMS team on scene to help Kim.
• Kim had no pulse and coded. They used an AED between compressions to shock her heart. The first shock did not take and so compressions continued. They administered a second shock, and then the heart began to beat.
• Usually in this kind of situation, you ride with patients in the ambulance, and you have this kind of bond with them and then you just you never get to hear what happened.
• So it’s great to have this happy ending. It's been extremely rewarding. And just a really good reminder of why we do what we do.

Dr. Rhea Pimentel, electrophysiologist, The University of Kansas Health System

• Kim has something called sarcoidosis, which we initially identified in the lungs, and then has since identified in the heart.
• Sarcoidosis is it's actually a little bit of an autoimmune syndrome, where you get a bunch of inflammatory cells that sort of clump together and deposit themselves in different organs, the lungs and the heart being some of them.
• When it deposits in the heart it causes something called granulomas, and those can affect the heart conduction system -- how slow or how fast the heart beats.
• Otherwise, she was very healthy, so it was hard to diagnose.
• The symptoms are very nonspecific – fatigue and shortness of breath. From a cardiology standpoint, patients typically have rhythm abnormalities.
• She was outfitted with a pacemaker to help avoid issues.
• I would just encourage anybody that if you see somebody go down, do something about it. If you don't think that you're the best at it, just do it because something is better than nothing.

COVID Updates

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System

• The COVID inpatient count is at 19, a slight increase from 17 last week.
• National wastewater safety surveillance looks for COVID in the wastewater. It does cover over 119 million people in the United States, so it's a pretty good sample size.
• A new publicly viewable data map on the CDC website shows that Kansas is in the high category – meaning higher levels of COVID are being found in wastewater versus previous measurements.
• Detecting it in the wastewater early helps prepare for potential spikes in cases that could be severe enough to require hospitalization.
• People who are vaccinated are less likely to have severe infection that can lead to hospitalization.

Monday, December 11 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Nerissa Elrod lost her mom to a rare disease of the brains of blood vessels. Then she got the same diagnosis. Go behind the scenes to see the brain surgery that is making sure her future is bright.

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