HEART GROUP NAMES NEW LEADER VALENCIA MAN PLEDGES TO EXPAND OUTREACH IN REGION.Byline: Daily News Mark Rieck of Valencia has been named executive director of the American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA), n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities. , Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County. He will be responsible for overseeing the association's interest in the largest city in the Western States Affiliate, which consists of California, Nevada and Utah. ``During the next year, we're going to aggressively expand our outreach to the medical and business communities to gain more support for our programs and to fund additional research,'' Rieck said. ``By obtaining more support for our community education programs and research, we will be able to help the people of Los Angeles County reduce their heart and stroke risk.'' In the past few months, the association has introduced Operation Stroke, a program to raise awareness of stroke risk factors and help people assess their personal risk. The association's Operation Heartbeat program has made great strides with its CPR Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Definition Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure to support and maintain breathing and circulation for a person who has stopped breathing (respiratory arrest) and/or whose heart has stopped (cardiac in Schools program, which trains middle and high school students in cardiopulmonary resuscitation cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), emergency procedure used to treat victims of cardiac and respiratory arrest. CPR can be done in a hospital with drugs and special equipment or as a first-aid technique. and how to use an automated external defibrillator automated external defibrillator Emergency medicine A portable device designed for use by first-response personnel for out-of-hospital emergency treatment of Pts suffering from cardiac arrest. See First-response personnel. . Rieck plans to focus on ethnic programs reaching Latinos, African- Americans and Asian communities. Other areas of emphasis will include programs addressing childhood obesity childhood obesity Public health Overweight in a child, an average BMI of ≥ 85% for age and sex; ≥ 95% for age and sex is very obese. See Body-mass index, Obesity. Cf Adult obesity. , women and heart disease, and the need to place automated external defibrillators strategically throughout the community to reduce deaths from cardiac arrest cardiac arrest n. Abbr. CA A sudden cessation of cardiac function, resulting in loss of effective circulation. Cardiac arrest A condition in which the heart stops functioning. . ``We're also going to continue our advocacy work to hold our elected officials responsible for supporting programs that reduce tobacco use,'' Rieck said. Rieck plans to raise $6 million to support the association's research and educational endeavors in Los Angeles County. Rieck joined the American Heart Association in 1980 in Iowa. He has held various positions with the association, including director of Business and Employee Campaigns at the National Center in Dallas, and served as executive director of both the Houston/Gulf Coast Council and the Washington State Affiliate before he moved to Los Angeles. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) RIECK |
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