Heart Heart health is something that is very important to me and I have a unique personal experience regarding the very thing that keeps us alive every day! Many of you do not know that before I came to Okuma, I worked in EMS. One of the things my agency did was they gave us an opportunity every year in February to reunite with the families that were affected by a cardiac arrest. Those of us that had a clinical save were invited to an event called "Hearts and Hero's". This event gave the EMS, fire departments or even bystanders that were there during a cardiac arrest that actively had a hand in saving the patient's life, the opportunity to reconnect with the patient and their families. As medical providers we often do our jobs, hand over care to the teams in the hospital and never know an outcome of a patient that we have treated. I am and will forever be humbled and thankful for this event and being able to meet the patients and families that I was fortunate to be able to have had a hand in treating. These types of emergencies are traumatic and scary for families, so being able to reconnect with them was a full circle moment and something I will always hold near to my heart. Heart disease does not discriminate '" it does not matter how old or young you are or if you are the fittest person in the room. Knowing CPR and starting CPR quickly can make all the difference in an outcome of a patient!

This is my why...for the families that have been affected by heart disease, for those that are fortunate enough to have another day with their loved ones and for those that respond and answer the call daily.