Angela Perkins is on a mission straight from the heart. She almost lost her life on July 9, 2013, when she went into cardiac arrest.
“I was at work in a meeting, just a routine meeting at work, and all of a sudden I collapsed and went into sudden cardiac arrest,” said Perkins.
Someone called 911 and before co-workers could perform CPR, Dallas Fire Rescue arrived within minutes.
“Over the next 20 minutes they continued CPR, and [shocked] me multiple times with an AED trying to get my heart started back,” said Perkins.
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Dr. Ann Marie Navar, Associate Professor of Cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland, said people don’t always jump in because of concerns over inappropriate touching, injuring a person or COVID-19. Not enough people rush to help because of these fears, or simply not knowing how to perform CPR.
“It’s important for people to get training in bystander CPR because you learn where to put your hands to get adequate chest compressions, but proper training can also protect you in the event of another outbreak, like COVID-19 for example,” said Dr. Navar.
The North Texas division of the American Heart Association trained over 55,000 people in bystander CPR last year.
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“Start compressions as quickly as possible, and you want to do them hard and fast. We’re looking for between 100 and 120 compressions a minute,” said Dr. Navar.
Both Dr. Navar and Perkins will be at this year’s American Heart Association annual heart walk. It’s a full-circle journey for Perkins.
“This will be my ninth walk to participate in. My first heart walk was actually in 2013. Just six weeks after I got out of the hospital. I’d already planned to walk before my cardiac arrest, which is pretty neat,” said Perkins.
Dr. Navar says heart disease is the number one cause of death of women and men in the United States.
The heart walks for DFW take place Sept. 24 in Dallas at Reunion Tower Lawn and in Tarrant County at The Shops at Clearfork.
