Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome dear listeners to another captivating episode of In Their Words, a podcast brought to you by the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation and UPMC in central PA. I'm your host, Caitlin Whyte.

And today's installment is an inspiring journey into the life of a remarkable individual, Julie Walker. At the forefront of Heart Health Advocacy, Julie is the founder of the Peyton Walker foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting heart screenings, CPR, and AED training and equipment donations. In Memory of her beloved 19 year old daughter, Peyton, Julie's unwavering commitment has positioned the Peyton Walker Foundation as a leading force in the landscape of heart health awareness. Joining us to shed light on the collaborative efforts that drive positive change is the incredible partnership between the Peyton Walker Foundation, UPMC in central PA and the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation.

These organizations work closely on numerous initiatives. And in today's episode, we'll delve into one of their groundbreaking projects; The Four Minute City. This innovative endeavor is a testament to their shared vision of creating safer and more resilient communities. Joining us as we explore the profound impact of the Peyton Walker Foundation and the collaborative efforts with the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation. This is In Their Words where stories come to life and change begins with the power of a single voice.

Julie Walker: So I'm Julie Walker. I am the Executive Director and Founding Person who created the Peyton Walker Foundation. And running a foundation is nothing that I ever imagined I'd be doing. But on November 2nd, 2013, our phone rang and life as we knew it and loved it, ended at that moment. It was the President of King's College up in Wilkes Barre, where our daughter Peyton was a sophomore studying to be a physician assistant. He was calling to let us know that our daughter had just been taken by ambulance to Wilkes Barre Hospital.

And what a moment, because I'd just been sitting at the kitchen table enjoying breakfast, thinking, wow, life is perfect. What a perfect day, beautiful fall morning, and with one phone call, your world can come crashing to an end.

So with this phone call, we immediately packed up and got in the car to head to Wilkes Barre, not knowing exactly what we were going to be facing. We got to the hospital and quickly learned that we had lost our daughter without warning to sudden cardiac arrest. We had no idea what that even meant and we didn't think kids could have a cardiac arrest. What happened? What was she doing? We didn't really understand anything that was going on and our world changed on a dime.

When I was walking out of the hospital, the nurse, from the ER department had handed me a bag that had Peyton's clothing in it. And I brought the bag home and it sat on my living room floor for, gosh, I think it was about five weeks until I had the courage to open it up. And I just needed to hold something or smell something that had Peyton's scent on it. So I opened up her bag of clothes and pulled out this long sleeve red t-shirt that she'd been wearing the day she died. And at that moment when I pulled it out, every hair on my body stood on end because in white letters on this t-shirt that she was wearing, it said, What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. And if that wasn't a message that, you know, Hey, you need to do something with this Mom and Dad, like, don't let this be my end, the end of my story. So my husband and I really, we put our heads together, did a lot of talking and thought, you know, how can we work to prevent other families from having to live with this nightmare, and spare them from losing a child needlessly to cardiac arrest.

So we decided to start the Peyton Walker Foundation, in Peyton's memory obviously, and thought the best way to do that and the best way to make a change was to provide free heart screenings for kids, to donate AEDs or defibrillators, and also to teach community members how to do CPR and how to use an AED.

And all of this would work together to really raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and also increase survival rates. Honestly, one of the first phone calls I made right after losing Peyton was to our partners at UPMC. I'm a patient of the cardiology department and immediately reached out to the cardiologist and said, how can we work together?

What can we do? So not only did UPMC Heart and Vascular get on board, but then we were able to partner with UPMC, what was then Pinnacle Foundation and really helped to spearhead and support our AED donation program. I mean, the relationship has just grown over the years between Peyton Walker and UPMC and we couldn't do the work we do without this incredible village of support behind us.

So, it has been an incredible partnership and we know we are having a direct impact on saving lives and saving families from this devastation. It's been truly remarkable.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): In the realm of cardiovascular wellbeing, screening serve as a crucial line of defense, a proactive measure that can make all the difference. Julie, drawing from her own profound experiences, wants her voice to underscore the significance of regular heart screenings. It's more than a health check. It's a narrative of prevention, awareness, and empowerment.

Julie Walker: We have worked with UPMC Heart and Vascular, to put on free heart screenings for kids. And what we're looking for are these hidden heart issues that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. And you have to peel that back a little bit and understand that when kids go for a sports physical or a well child physical, the heart is not being checked completely.

Most doctors or physicians will listen for a heart murmur, but they will not check the electrical status of the heart. And that's where these ysudden cardiac arrests happen. You have to understand that our hearts are actually controlled by a charge of electricity, and if that electricity is not being conducted properly through the heart, you'll see someone go into sudden cardiac arrest.

So, finding these hidden heart electrical problems is what can prevent sudden death in our youth. So, we partner with UPMC Heart and Vascular, and we set up these free screenings, screen a couple hundred kids at a time, typically. We check their vitals, we do the electrocardiograms, and we also listen for heart murmurs, and then if anything comes back abnormal, we'll also give them an echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound of the heart.

And all of this takes place. I mean, it's a huge, enormous undertaking. We have like 40 to 50 medical providers on site and about 40 or 50 non-medical volunteers who come and help out at our screening. So it's a huge community effort and medical team effort to get these kids checked. But I'll tell you, it's incredible too, because every kid and every parent that comes through these heart screenings, not only are we checking their hearts, but we're also providing them with CPR and AED education and training.

So we take the time to teach everyone what to do in the event of a cardiac emergency. But every family leaves that day knowing whether or not their kids hearts are okay. And, typically on average we find one or two kids out of every hundred that have an issue they didn't realize they had and some of them we just had a screening a few weeks ago and a little girl went and had to have a surgical intervention already because of what we found at her screening.

We had a screening this past weekend and found another three children who will need follow up care. Some may need intervention, surgical procedures, some may just need medication and monitoring, but it is absolutely astounding what we have found in children over the nine years that we've been doing these heart screenings.

And we know we're making an enormous difference in the families and potentially saving these kids lives and saving the families from incredible heartache. So the heart screening program has been really successful. But it's only because of the partners like UPMC Heart and Vascular, who step up and make it happen.

So another area that we knew we could make an enormous impact, is our AED donation program. So an AED or defibrillator is what's needed when someone's in cardiac arrest. They need the shock from an AED to restart their heart and hopefully resume a normal heart rhythm so the person can survive. It's very different than a heart attack. And like I said, it's based on electricity. So AEDs are a critical piece in survival. So we've gotten so many requests to provide AEDs to youth athletic leagues, youth organizations, nonprofits, churches, police departments, schools, everything, and it was a bit overwhelming.

We approached UPMC Pinnacle Foundation years ago and started an incredible partnership, and UPMC Foundation has funded the majority of our AED donations for the past nine years. We've been able to donate close to 500 AEDs and several of them we know have been used to save a life.

And those stories are absolutely, oh, they're tearjerkers when we get to meet the survivors and the people that were involved in the saves. But, it's never enough. Getting AEDs out into the community, making sure that people have access to them and making sure they're getting to the victims; that's where the disconnect has been and we knew there was an opportunity to improve upon that and really start making a huge improvement in the number of saves that were made.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): As we find ourselves immersed in the heartbeat of Julie Walker's advocacy, our journey takes a turn towards an innovative initiative that promises to reshape communities and redefine emergency response. The Avive 4-Minutes City Program.

Julie Walker: So several years ago, we were introduced to Avive, which is a new AED company. They just got FDA approval about a year ago, October of 2022. And this new device is, oh, it is a game changer. Finally, it's going to really move the needle on survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest. And what happens typically when someone calls 911, it may take 8 minutes or 15 minutes or maybe even longer depending on where you live. If it's rural area, it may take even longer for an ambulance to arrive. And when someone's in cardiac arrest, every minute counts. Every minute that passes, someone's chances of survival decreases by 10%. So if you wait 10 or 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, that person is definitely not going to survive.

So, what we're doing, this new Avive AED is actually connected to the 911 call center. And we're bringing this to Cumberland County first, and we're going to roll it out into additional surrounding counties. But this emergency call will come into the 911 operator, and now this new technology, they're able to push a button and find these Avive AEDs where they're located.

And they're looking for AEDs that are close to the caller where the cardiac arrest is happening. They find an AED, it will send an alert, it will send the address so the person, could be a community member, it could be some other first responder, they can take their AED and get to the victim much more quickly than EMS and ambulances can get there.

So we're really creating this community of response and this culture of response where we're empowering regular, everyday citizens to respond and hopefully jump in and save a life. So 300 of these are going out. They're being given to care team members in Cumberland County. And it has been incredible.

We took this opportunity to UPMC and said, you know, hey, this is really, really cool. This is going to save lives and make a huge impact on sudden cardiac arrest survival rates in Cumberland County. Would you like to be on board and get involved? And the answer was yes. And that's, the thing. The answer is always yes with UPMC. You know, just wanting to be involved in cutting edge and finding out the best ways to save lives. It's been incredible. So these AEDs, we did some testing, in August of 2022. We just did another round of testing a few weeks ago. It's working beautifully. The 911 centers getting these emergency calls. They send out the alerts and the AEDs can then be taken quickly to any scene where a cardiac arrest is taking place. Knowing UPMC is behind this and they're giving us the resources to help make sure that this is a successful program and, we know we're going to see a lot more survival rates in Cumberland County and then moving into Dauphin County as well.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): We arrive at a day that stands as a testament to cutting edge technology and a commitment to cardiac care. The day they tested the Avive AEDs. Picture this. A, room pulsating with anticipation, as the Peyton Walker Foundation, hand-in-hand with the UPFC Pinnacle Foundation embarks on a crucial phase of their mission.

Julie Walker: So, we've worked on this 4-Minute City program with Avive for several years, and it's just been a labor of love, and we have poured our hearts and souls into this, and the day that we had the actual testing; there were several of us out in the field with AEDs and with different emergency responders.

Some of us were in the 911 communication center as these simulated calls came in. So it was absolutely incredible to be in the communication center with a 911 operator, with the people from Avive who have developed this technology, with the software people as well who created the software that ties it all together.

Call would come in. The operator, the 911 telecommunicator operator would send out the signal and then we're on radios and on the phone talking to the people in the field like, oh yep, my AED just alerted. It's telling us where to go and we got it down by the end of the day to within four minutes and the whole nature of this project; it's called the 4-Minute City and the goal is to get an AED to a victim within four minutes of that call coming into the 911 center and by the end of the testing, we had it nailed. It was unbelievable to actually witness, you know, it gives me goosebumps just talking about it, but knowing, we're giving people a fighting chance now. We can get these AEDs to them so much more quickly, and educating the 911 operators as well, and they're motivated to make sure that the AEDs are there too, as quickly as possible, so this is a community effort, it is, everyone's involved. The 911 operators, police departments, the emergency response teams are involved, the care team members. It is a community effort and we cannot wait to get the call when that first life is saved in Cumberland County.

 We know that bystanders can save a life and putting all the responsibility on EMS responders is not going to lead to successful life saving measures. So, by getting AEDs into the hands of everyday citizens, that's how we make a difference in all of this. And the beautiful thing about this 4-Minute City program is anyone can sign up in Dauphin County, Cumberland County, and we're going to continue to spread this around to other communities as well.

Julie Walker: Anyone can register to become a care team member. They undergo different training. So they understand what is sudden cardiac arrest? What do I do when I enter an emergency scene, et cetera. Training is pretty minimal. But you have to be prepared to take that AED and walk into a situation where basically someone is dead and you're going to be part of hopefully helping to restore their life and bring them back to life.

It's a big responsibility, but we know bystanders are the difference makers. There was two incidences this year of AEDs we had donated. One was at the Olympic Skating Center up in Enola, where one of the AEDs we donated was used. It was bystander CPR. Someone immediately recognized it was sudden cardiac arrest.

They started CPR, yelled for someone to get the AED. Another person, volunteer, brought the AED, got that applied, and they saved this 10 year old little girl's life because they had the resources and materials available, and they were willing to volunteer to help. A similar situation down in Mount Joy, where a gentleman collapsed. People recognized it was a cardiac arrest. Someone started CPR, someone got the AED, and they saved his life as well. So, these are just average everyday people who are making an enormous difference and giving families the gift of being able to spend holidays together or celebrate more birthdays together. It's a beautiful way to really spare other families from devastation. We love this 4-Minute City program. Anyone can get involved, like I said. You just have to be willing to respond to an emergency when called upon. And what a gift to be able to give people the chance of life and not have to just wait for 911 and emergency services to arrive.

If you're outside of the Dauphin or Cumberland County area and you're still inspired to save a life or you want to help in some way, I would strongly encourage you to learn CPR. Learn how to use an AED. They're so easy to use. They walk you through the process. Once you turn them on, it tells you step by step exactly what to do to save a life. So anyone can use an AED. You can attend a CPR class. We offer them throughout the year, very inexpensively.

Even just a demo. You can go online watch some videos online, how to do CPR and how to use an AED. So get familiar with it. Also you know, make sure AEDs are available anywhere kids are playing or practicing sports. Ask the coaches, demand that the athletic organizations provide AEDs and have them available.

I think it's a responsibility of these organizations to have them and make them available for kids and protect them. So just raising awareness, I think, is such an incredible, critical component of increasing survivability. We all need to take a little bit of ownership and responsibility to make better outcomes and be a better community partner for everyone.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): As we draw the curtain on this compelling episode of In Their Words, the echoes of Julie Walker's advocacy and the groundbreaking initiatives of the Peyton Walker Foundation linger in the air. If you found inspiration in today's narratives and are eager to make a tangible impact in your community; there's a call to action waiting for you. For those living outside of Dauphin or Cumberland county, the opportunity to become a beacon of hope is still within reach. You can take a CPR class, join the ranks of compassionate individuals as a care team member for The 4-Minute City. And in doing so, become an instrumental force in the chain of lifesaving efforts. To seize this opportunity to be part of a movement that transcends the ordinary and embraces the extraordinary, visit Peytonwalker.org. There you'll find the information you need to embark on a journey of knowledge, preparedness and community resilience. Thank you for joining us on this transformative episode of In Their Words. Remember the power to save lives is not reserved for the extraordinary, it resides within each of us. Together, we can turn the page on heart health, one heartbeat at a time.