A University of Michigan study published last year found the Monday following “spring forward” loss of one hour in March was associated with a 24 percent increase in daily heart attacks. The Tuesday following the time change in the Fall was associated with a 21 percent reduction in heart attacks. No other weekdays in the weeks following DST changes demonstrated significant associations.
Researchers assessed changes in admissions for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium database for the weeks following four Spring and three Fall DST changes between March 2010 and September 2013.
The researchers — Amneet Sandhu, Milan Seth, and Hitinder S. Gurm — explained that more than 1.5 billion people in 70 countries around the world observe daylight savings time (DST). In the USA, outside of Arizona and Hawaii, all citizens turn their clocks forward by one hour in the Spring and backwards by an hour in the Fall.
The researchers also pointed out that previous research has shown that manipulations of the sleep–wake cycle have been linked to imbalance of the autonomic nervous system, rise in proinflammatory cytokines and depression. Researchers also explained that work of prior researchers also shows that Monday already carries the highest of Acute Myocardial Infarction, which may be attributed to an abrupt change in the sleep–wake cycle and increased stress in relation to the start of a new work week.
The University of Michigan research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
The spring forward day into Daylight Savings Time occurs in a time period that already includes extra stress on the cardiovascular system, namely time management stress from longer commute times associated with Winter weather, cold air inhalation, snow shoveling, seasonal affective disorder and depression, credit card debt following the holiday season, and looming income tax, and property tax payments. Some of these stresses are particularly exacerbating in Chicagoland.
PulsePoint App
With a free PulsePoint AED app in many areas of the United States, citizens can receive and view alerts on calls dispatched by fire department EMS services. The app’s main feature, and where its name comes from, is that it sends fire department alerts to users at the same time that dispatchers are sending the emergency medical call to emergency crews.
This is a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to raise awareness about an innovative new location-aware mobile application (iPhone and Android) from the PulsePoint Foundation. The app empowers everyday citizens to provide life-saving assistance to victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Application users who have indicated they are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can now be notified if someone nearby is having a cardiac emergency and may require CPR (NOT AVAILABLE IN ILLINOIS).
The goal of the PulsePoint app is to increase the possibility that a victim in cardiac arrest will receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quickly and AED administration. The app uses the current location of a qualified user/subscriber and will alert the user if someone in their vicinity is in need of CPR. The app, which interfaces with a fire departments dispatch center, sends notifications to users only if the victim is in a public place and only to users that are in the immediate vicinity of the emergency.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) formally launched PulsePoint on Wednesday, March 4th at an event at Woodrow Wilson High School in El Sereno where 120 students became CPR trained. Fire Chief Ralph M. Terrazas was joined by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, LAUSD ESC-East Superintendent Roberto Martinez, PulsePoint Foundation President Richard Price and The Wireless Foundation Executive Director Athena Polydorou to discuss the LAFD’s rollout of the free PulsePoint app.
— PulsePoint
Each agency can supply their own audio feed for use in the app (or can choose to use an existing public feed if available). Originating an official agency feed requires about $700 in hardware and a free account on RadioReference.com. Streaming radio feeds are optional.
As of January 15, 2015, there are 759 fire departments or EMS agencies in the United States that are PulsePoint Connected. Not a single fire department or EMS agency in the State of Illinois is PulsePoint-connected. There are 36 PulsePoint-connected fire departments in Wisconsin. There are 139 PulsePoint fire departments in California — including Los Angeles Fire Department.
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