African-American Village News Few survive cardiac arrest, even with hospital CPR Most diverse 'plebes' arrive at US Naval Academy Essence Fest to celebrate Black music in US Specials Partners

African-American Village Daily News

Few survive cardiac arrest, even with hospital CPR

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
AP Medical Writer

You don't have to be Michael Jackson to have this problem: The odds of surviving cardiac arrest after getting CPR in a hospital are slim and have not improved in more than a decade, a big Medicare study concludes.

Only about 18 percent of such patients live long enough to leave the hospital, researchers found. Blacks fared worse than whites - a disparity only partly explained by more of them being treated in hospitals that did a poorer job of CPR.

Results were published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Lance Becker, a University of Pennsylvania emergency medicine specialist and an American Heart Association spokesman, called the findings "grim'' and "a wake-up call that we need to redouble our efforts'' to find better ways to treat cardiac arrest.

It occurs when the heart quivers or stops beating entirely, because of a heart attack, a sudden heart rhythm problem, a drug overdose or other cause.

CPR, rhythmic chest compressions, can help maintain blood pressure and flow until more advanced treatments can be tried. Those might involve using a defibrillator to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm. Big strides have been made getting bystanders to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to use defibrillators, but the new study suggests that less improvement is occurring in the nation's hospitals.

Researchers led by Dr. William Ehlenbach at the University of Washington in Seattle analyzed the care of 433,985 Medicare patients treated from 1992 through 2005 around the United States.

Survival odds did not substantially change over time, they found. Blacks had survival rates about one-quarter lower than whites. Men, older patients, and people admitted from nursing homes also had lower survival rates after CPR. The study was funded by grants from the federal government and several foundations.

"It's troubling. We have made a lot of progress in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,'' including a near tripling of survival rates in the Seattle area after community and rescue worker training efforts, said Dr. Paul S. Chan. He is a quality-of-care researcher at St. Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo.

His own research, published in the New England journal last year, found that one-third of hospitalized patients do not get a potentially live-saving defibrillator shock within the recommended two minutes of suffering cardiac arrest.

Even when CPR is given by these highly trained hospital staffers, chest compressions often are too slow or too shallow to be effective, Chan said.

Guidelines recommend 100 chest compressions per minute, Chan said.

"Our performance in treating people with cardiac arrest is not improving,'' said Yale University cardiologist Dr. Harlan Krumholz. "Given that we know that there are delays to treatment across the country and those delays increase risk, there likely exists a big opportunity for hospitals to do better.''

Dr. Gerald Buckberg, a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, is trying radical approaches to improve survival, including use of a heart-lung machine to buy time while doctors try to fix the underlying problem that caused the cardiac arrest, such as clogged arteries triggering a heart attack.

By doing CPR independent of other steps to fix the underlying problem, "we have only treated the symptom of sudden death - we haven't treated the reason,'' Buckberg said.

Doctors have become too accepting of the fact CPR saves some patients, he said. "We should not accept the failure'' that the vast majority die.

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On the Net:

Medical journal: www.nejm.org

Heart Association: www.americanheart.org

Most diverse 'plebes' arrive at US Naval Academy

By AARON MORRISON
Associated Press Writer

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Wave goodbye. Get in line. "Hurry up and wait'' for your uniform, your medical exam and a crash course in saluting.

Everything about Wednesday's Induction Day at the U.S. Naval Academy was typical - except that the incoming class was the most racially diverse ever. Of the 1,230 incoming students, 435 are minority midshipmen - or 35 percent, up from 28 percent last year.

This year's "plebes'' - freshmen - are helping close the gap between enlisted sailors and officers. About 21 percent of officers are minorities, while about 48 percent of enlisted men and women are.

Academy officials have expanded recruiting for future officers into places they have had trouble attracting students, such as urban areas with larger minority populations, with the goal of balancing the disparity. And officials hope future recruits will be enticed to stay in the Navy program when they can see more of their superiors are like them.

"There is definitely some direct associations with who is commanding you,'' said retired Capt. Bernard Jackson, president of the National Naval Officers Association, which helps minority officers develop their careers. "To be able to see (yourself) in the organization, it plays a strong part to have younger individuals stay.''

The landmark class coincides with the 60th anniversary of the graduation of the first African-American midshipman, Wesley Brown, in 1949.

More important than recruitment is retention - surviving four grueling years of physical activity, leadership training and tough academics.

In 2009, the Hispanic graduation rate was 86 percent; the African-American graduation rate was 77 percent. Of 1,065 graduates in 2009, 826 were white graduates and 229 were minorities, up slightly from 223 in 2008.

Graduates go on to serve in varying capacities, including naval aviation, special warfare and medical corps.

Trainer Jason Hill, an ensign who graduated in May, said plebes would spend their six-week summer course becoming indistinguishable from their classmates.

That uniformity means if needed, plebes got haircuts. Designer eyewear and contacts are surrendered for unflattering spectacles. Each new midshipman dressed in the same uniform. In unison, each learned how to stare into the pages of their copy of "Reef Points,'' a manual they must memorize during "plebe summer.''

Some gained experience in properly addressing upperclassmen, nervously shouting: "Sir, yes, sir!'' or "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!''

And the preparation means a little bit of tough love from recent graduates. Training the incoming class is an adjustment, Hill said.

"It's a little weird for us to go from speaking normally to everyone to being a jerk,'' said Hill, who will report in August for flight training.

Edward Girling, 18, of Lynchburg, Va., said he came in thinking his summer was going to be rough. Girling arrived with the sides of his heads shaved bald, and the top intact.

"My cousins thought it would be funny to cut my head last night,'' he said.

He lamented he would miss sleeping, though Hill quickly corrected him.

"You'll get plenty of sleep during your six-week training,'' Hill said. "When you begin your school work, you'll get less sleep.''

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On the Net:

U.S. Naval Academy: http://www.usna.edu

National Naval Officers Association: http://www.nnoa.org

Essence Fest to celebrate Black music in US

By STACEY PLAISANCE
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The celebration of Black music and culture at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans will provide comfort to artists and fans alike after a tough week following Michael Jackson's death.

Singer Lionel Richie, a longtime friend of the pop superstar and the festival's headliner, says performing at Essence will give him and others a chance to regroup.

"We'll celebrate his life and come together as a family down there,'' Richie said. "It's New Orleans. The spirit of what the music business is all about is there. It really is to me one of those places that's like visiting my foundation.''

The festival, which began in 1995 to celebrate the birthday of Essence Magazine, begins Friday and runs through Sunday. It will include a tribute to Jackson, as well as performances by Beyonce, John Legend, Ne-Yo, Anita Baker and others.

Richie, 60, collaborated with Jackson in 1985 and wrote what became one of the fastest-selling singles ever - "We Are the World'' - a song produced to raise money for victims of the Ethiopian famine.

"I wanted him to be able to enjoy his life and his success, and he was never really able to do that,'' Richie said. "He just couldn't get there. For me, that was the tough part.''

Richie said his performance Sunday will consist of favorites like "Zoom'' and "Brick House,'' but he'll also sprinkle in a selection or two from "Just Go,'' his new CD.

"I know this audience,'' he said. "This is my audience. ... They want to hear as much old as I can play.''

Essence also will include a host of New Orleans acts, such as Troy "Trombone Shorty'' Andrews, trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and the brass band Big Sam's Funky Nation.

New Orleans jazz singer Thais Clark is making her Essence debut Friday with two performances - one a salute to New Orleans blues singer Marva Wright, who is recovering from a stroke last month, and another with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

"I love Essence,'' Clark said. "It brings a certain energy to the city, the people and enthusiasm. I'm so excited to be a part of it this year.''

Besides music, Essence has plenty to celebrate with the election of the country's first Black president and the festival's 15th anniversary, said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc.

As in years past, seminars addressing challenges in the Black community, such as underachieving schools and single-parent households, will be held during the day at the Morial Convention Center, and concerts are slated for evenings at the Louisiana Superdome.

On Friday, actor and comedian Steve Harvey will talk about marriage and actor turned activist Bill Cosby will discuss education a day later. Other speakers include Marvelyn Brown, a 24-year-old who was diagnosed with HIV at 19, former magazine editor Monique Greenwood and Soledad O'Brien, the CNN anchor who reported on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

This year is shaping up to be a record crowd, despite the slumping economy and loss of two major sponsors, Ebanks said. Essence is on track to break last year's record attendance of 270,000, she said.

Hotel occupancy is expected to be 80 to 90 percent, and could increase "if we have a lot of last minute decision-makers,'' said Mary Beth Romig, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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On the Net:

Essence Music Fest, http://www.essencemusicfestival.com

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