PARENT HEART WATCH, INC.
WILMINGTON, DE

Who we are Parent Heart Watch (PHW) is the only national advocacy organization focused solely on protecting youth from sudden cardiac arrest. PHW is comprised of parents and other advocates who have been personally touched by sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) or sudden cardiac death (SCD) and who now put their time and effort into preventing SCA/SCD in the young throughout their community. Parent Heart Watch is a 501(c)3 non-profit incorporated in 2005. OUR MISSION Parent Heart Watch is the national voice protecting youth from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and preventable Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD). Parent Heart Watch leads and empowers others by sharing information, educating and advocating for change. Parent Heart Watch was founded by four mothers who had lost a seemingly healthy child to sudden cardiac arrest. They came together from different parts of the country, to honor their children’s memory and create a national organization dedicated to protecting youth from sudden cardiac arrest. The Medtronic Foundation provided a generous grant to support the inaugural meeting of the organization in Las Vegas and provide educational materials for its members. For more than a decade, Parent Heart Watch has continued to tell the true stories of the devastation Sudden Cardiac Arrest has on our youth, as well as stories of survivors who are alive because of primary or secondary prevention strategies. Parent Heart Watch is a dynamic and transformative platform that cultivates courageous sudden cardiac arrest prevention champions across the country who work to advance primary and secondary prevention initiatives in their community and state. An easel displaying four oversized color pictures of Sean, who died on his 13th birthday in August 2008, created a heart-touching backdrop as Fisher, a resident of Waldwick in Bergen County, spoke to members of the media about the Sean Fisher Memorial Foundation’s latest mission. According to the American Heart Association, the incidence of such deaths is one in 200,000, but Dr. Nidhi Kumar, a cardiologist and Medical Director of Women’s Health at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, said many experts believe the incidence is greater, making the need for rapid response and the availability of automated external defibrillators paramount. DOING GOOD: Even in his tragic death, Sean Fisher — whose father is determined to inform an entire nation of youth league coaches about the All Heart program — is still making an impact on the lives of others. “I want to make sure everybody finds out about this,” Fisher said. “I want to prevent as many deaths as possible. We might not catch everybody, but we want to try to catch as many as we can. That’s our goal. I believe (Sean’s death) happened for a reason. I believe he’s sitting up there looking down saying, ‘Go ahead mom and dad, keep doing what you're doing.’ “Until the day I’m on the other side of the turf and I get to see him again,” Fisher said. “I’m going to keep doing it.” "My brother, he came down, and I ran to the fire station to see if I could get some help, and I understand my brother gave him CPR," Jones said. If you are grieving the death of your child, or know bereaved parents struggling with the emotional trauma of their tragic loss, please reach out to Parent Heart Watch for support or to share your story. We are a community of parents who have lost our children to this silent killer and have found comfort among families who have had a similar experience. This is a community of healing through relationships, education and action. Contact Executive Director Martha Lopez-Anderson, Though surviving Sudden Cardiac Arrest is an outcome to celebrate, many youth and their families are overwhelmed by the trauma of the experience and appreciate the opportunity to connect with others who share this unique perspective. The Parent Heart Watch community includes parents of SCA survivors and young survivors and youth living with a heart condition who have navigated their recovery through relationships, education and action. For more information, please contact Executive Director Martha Lopez-Anderson, Connected by Hearts provides education, support and networking to young survivors of sudden cardiac arrest and those living with heart conditions. Check out the blogs by young authors, heart videos and more. – Background information that will be helpful to the speaker