Illinois Network News, August 2011

Legislative Updates:

CPR
After months of advocacy aimed at passing a new CPR bill, Governor Pat Quinn has strengthened Illinois’ Good Samaritan Law by signing HB 1549 at a special ceremony designed to bring attention to the importance of hands-only CPR. This new law was written to aid the spread of hands-only CPR training by ensuring that the legal framework protecting folks with the courage and presence of mind to perform CPR keeps pace with recent advances in CPR training.

As you may know, less than 30% of individuals experiencing sudden cardiac arrest receive bystander CPR before the paramedics arrive. Those lucky few who do receive CPR are up to 3 times more likely to survive. You may also know that the American Heart Association updated its CPR guidelines last fall, emphasizing Hands-Only CPR as an easier to learn alternative to conventional CPR. Thanks to these new guidelines and this new law that protects them, yesterday’s 4-hour certification course has given way to today’s 20-minute training video, making CPR easier for individuals to learn and less time-consuming for public institutions and private businesses to teach than ever before.

As a result, the door to quick and affordable CPR training has opened throughout the state. In fact, we are already seeing results thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, partners like CCARES and the Chicago Medical Society, and the enthusiasm for additional training from large organizations such as the Chicago Police Department. With prohibitive time commitment and liability issues behind us, there is no reason why a majority of Illinoisans can’t learn CPR at their job, with a local community organization, or in their living room in the months and years to come. None of this would have been possible without our national medical volunteers who crafted the new guidelines, and our local volunteers who helped pass this important law. Thanks in part to all of your help, more lives will be saved with hands-only CPR in Illinois!

SMOKEFREE ILLINOIS
Working with fellow members of the Illinois Coalition Against Tobacco, we scored a huge victory for public health by stopping several bills which would have amended the Smokefree Illinois Act to allow smoking in casinos! Although we won the battle, the fight continues as we expect casino smoking bills to resurface as soon as the Illinois General Assembly comes back into session. We will need your voice and your help again, so please stay tuned! If you would like more information on this issue, please visit: www.smokefreeillinois.org. Additionally, please don’t hesitate to contact AHA staff with any questions or feedback.

TOBACCO TAXES
Unfortunately, the General Assembly adjourned without taking action of a cigarette tax increase. Polls show that a tobacco tax remains the most popular revenue option for state government because in addition to reducing smoking rates and saving lives, this policy would benefit our cash-strapped state financially by bringing in roughly $300 million in new state revenues. We will continue to push this option as state officials consider options to address Illinois’ precarious financial condition. We are grateful to State Senate President John Cullerton and to Gov. Pat Quinn for their support of this initiative!

TRANS FATS
Protecting kids’ health by phasing out trans fats in school foods also remains on legislators’ “to do” list. Several legislative proposals to eliminate trans fats in schools and/or restaurants were introduced last legislative session. We supported some of the bills but were less enthusiastic about some other, weaker bills. However, none of the legislation – strong or weak – managed to pass because of strong opposition from school district superintendents and administrators as well some restaurants and most bakeries due to their concerns over the costs associated with replacing trans fats with healthier alternatives. Over the next several months we will be talking with all stakeholders to provide accurate information and to identify solutions everyone can support.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
What a difference a year (and YOUR voices) make! As some of you will recall, during the 2010 Spring Legislative Session we found ourselves fighting repeated attempts to cut PE in Illinois’ schools. Opponents attempted to diminish the importance of quality PE by labeling it an “unfunded mandate” and targeting it for elimination. While we stood our ground and defeated the attacks on PE, we fully expected to see more such activity during the 2011 Spring Legislative Session. And we were delighted to be wrong!!! Apparently our message about protecting, improving and expanding PE as a critically important weapon in our anti-obesity arsenal was received! We did not see any serious attempts to cut PE in 2011. Hopefully the school administrators looking to cut their budgets have realized that cutting PE will not be as easy as they may have expected and have permanently moved on to other “lower hanging” budget solutions. We will continue to educate policy makers on the importance of PE and will continue to “play defense” as needed. However, legislation in Springfield tends to favor the path of least resistance, and we hope that people’s emphatic support for physical education will act as a deterrent for future proposals to cut or eliminate the PE requirement.

STEMI CARE
Our efforts to create more efficient and effective systems of emergency care for the very worst heart attacks (called STEMIs) are starting to pick up some steam. Why is this important? Imagine you or a loved one had a massive STEMI heart attack. You would of course call 911 and expect to be quickly taken to a hospital fully equipped and staffed to handle your case. Unfortunately, the reality is that not every hospital has the in-house resources and expertise to handle STEMI patients, which means that if your closest hospital (which is where the ambulance will take you under current rules) isn’t a STEMI center, you’ll have to wait for a transfer to another hospital before you can be treated. Tragically, time is crucial with STEMIs and many patients do not survive the delay.

To fix this problem and ensure that STEMI patients are taken to the right hospital, right away, we have been working with partners and volunteers throughout the state, and can happily report some real progress. In Illinois’ 11th Emergency Medical Service (EMS) region comprising the city of Chicago, the EMS Medical Directors have recently formed a STEMI Advisory Committee – supported and hosted by the AHA – to bring together all relevant stakeholders in an effort to update the rules for paramedics and hospitals treating a STEMI patient. While the formation of yet another committee isn’t always a proof of progress, in this case AHA has been working closely with the Region 11 EMS Medical Directors and we hope to see an initial draft of new STEMI transportation rules soon. Without getting too far into the technical weeds, the adoption of new transportation rules within Region 11 would be a huge step forward for STEMI care in Illinois’ most populous EMS region. Elsewhere in the state, Region 8 (comprising Chicago’s western suburbs) continues to lead the way after completing its STEMI protocol process this past winter, while the state’s 9 other EMS regions are in various stages of preparation for similar efforts. It will take a lot of time and effort for all 11 of Illinois’ EMS regions to adopt new STEMI transportation rules and procure the equipment they’ll need to put those rules into practice, but things are moving in the right direction, and with your help we can improve STEMI care and survival rates throughout the state.

Upcoming Events:

9/17 McHenry County Heart Walk
9/17 McLean County Heart Walk
9/23 Downtown Chicago Heart Walk
9/24 West/DuPage Chicago Heart Walk
9/25 North/Northwest Chicago Heart Walk
10/1 South Cook County Heart Walk
10/1 Southern Illinois Heart Walk
10/8 East Central Illinois Heart Walk
10/8 Tri-County Peoria Area Heart Walk

Volunteer with us:
Are you looking for more ways to get involved with Illinois Advocacy? Then think about volunteering with us! We are looking for a few volunteers to join us at upcoming heart walks to help get petition cards signed and recruit new members for You're the Cure. Send us a note to let us know you can help at one of the above heart walks this fall.

Advocacy 101
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Become a Volnteer Leader
Are you passionate about making heart-healthy changes in Illinois and across the country? Consider becoming one of our volunteer leaders! Help us recruit and train new advocates, continue to build relationships with your legislators and be our go-to volunteer for your area of the state.Sound great? Send Anne Simaytis an email today to find out more. Or call her at 414-227-1410.