Highlights From the 2021 Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit

SAN DIEGO—From December 6-10, 2021, the Citizen CPR Foundation hosted its Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit at the Town and Country Hotel & Resort in San Diego. The widest array of lifesaving experts and resuscitation professionals came together to reconnect and recharge while also learning from and networking with the industry’s best.

Summit 2021 started off with a surprise, virtual celebrity guest: four-time champion of the Indy 500 and “Dancing with the Stars” season five winner, Hélio Castroneves. Castroneves joined Summit 2021 live from Daytona for a Q&A moderated by Ed Racht, MD, chief medical officer of Global Medical Response and the Summit 2021 program chair. The surprise session explored a fitting comparison between cardiac arrest and a racing pit crew. In both instances, seconds count and teams or crews need to work quickly and efficiently to help someone else.

The recognition of the Hans H. Dahll Award winners spotlighted two trailblazers in cardiac resuscitation. The award is named for the founding director of the Citizen CPR Foundation. This year’s Hans Dahll Award recipients were Vinay Nadkarni, MD, medical director, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Tom Aufderheide, MD, MS, professor of emergency medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin.

This community of resuscitation experts and cardiac arrest survivors also celebrated frontline workers and survivors of sudden cardiac arrest at the CPR Saves Lives Rally, held on Thursday December 9. During the CPR Saves Lives Rally, sponsored by Falck Mobile Health, Rady Children’s Hospital, and Tri-City Medical Center, students from Academy of Our Lady of Peace San Diego participated in a live, guided, hands-only CPR training session led by Maureen O’Connor, program manager, San Diego Project Heart Beat.

Attendees enjoyed live music by local band Fairfield Fats Band (with a surprise trumpet solo by Citizen CPR Foundation President Stu Berger, MD) and connected with local advocacy groups like Western States American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Eric Paredes Save a Life Foundation, Rady Children’s Project Adam, San Diego Project Heartbeat, Athletic Trainers, American Medical Response and Global Medical Response, and Falck Mobile Health. Attendees had a chance to see lifesaving apparatus in person, including equipment and vehicles from Rescue 44, San Diego Lifeguards, Battalion Chief Truck, Falck Ambulance, AMR Ambulance and San Diego Police. The Rally also featured sudden cardiac arrest survivors; Michael Simonsen, chief of staff for San Diego Council member Raul Campillo; co-medical directors Joelle Donofrio, DO, and Chris Kahn, MD, MPH; and Citizen CPR Foundation leaders. This event was free and open to the public.

Summit 2021 also included several recognition opportunities. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation announced and presented the People Saving People Award, which honors “ordinary” people with extraordinary spirits who helped save the lives of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) victims. This year, Bill and Juliana Schirmer received first-place recognition for helping save the life of Al Hart in Pleasanton, California, on June 15, 2019. Rob Hoadley, a market specialist with ZOLL Medical Corporation and an SCA survivor, presented the Schirmers with a ZOLL AED.

The Cardiac Arrest Survival Video Contest award was presented jointly by Citizen CPR Foundation and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation. The purpose of this contest is to increase awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and the importance of bystander action. Submissions were shown throughout Summit 2021. Salem Fire Department Chief Mike Niblock and the Salem Fire Foundation took home the top prize, including an AED donated by Coro Medical LLC.

The Citizen CPR Foundation’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2021 was also announced ahead of Summit 2021 and recognized during the Summit. Members of the 40 Under 40 committee reviewed more than 80 nominations from highly qualified candidates from around the world. The nominees represented a wide range of services and skills, all aimed at improving SCA outcomes. Nominees included educators, researchers, clinicians, survivors, family support members and first responders. For a full list of this year’s 40 Under 40 class, click here.

Summit 2021 wouldn’t have happened this year without the support of numerous sponsors, including the first-ever signature sponsor, ZOLL Medical; scholarship sponsor, Global Medical Response; platinum sponsors, AED Superstore, American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Laerdal Medical, PRESTAN Products, Stryker and WorldPoint; gold sponsors, Augeo, ESO and RedFlash Group; and silver sponsors, Defibtech, HSI, Philips and Penn Medicine TTM Academy.

Summit 2021 closed on December 10 with Citizen CPR Foundation President Stu Berger, announcing breaking news: Citizen CPR Foundation’s Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit will return to San Diego’s Town and Country Hotel & Resort in 2023.