CPR Certification | Washington Women’s Board honored for lifesaving work

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CPR First Aid Actor, director of CPR video
share personal connections to heart health
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Since 1947, the Womens Board of the American
Heart Association of Greater Washington Region
has been fighting heart disease and stroke, often
with the high-profile help of Americas first
ladies. Rosalynn Carter helped teach kids CPR.
Other first ladies from Mamie Eisenhower to
Laura Bush have attended the boards luncheon
and fashion show, the longest-running continuous
fundraiser in the nations capital. The event
raises about 300,000 a year to fund research
into heart disease and stroke. Of course, the
boards lifesaving efforts attract women who
dont live in the White House and its the
efforts of these women that recently earned the
board the AHAs Meritorious Achievement award.
There are 90 or so volunteer board members,
including one whos 100 years old.
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Women join the board and they stay. The issues
remain relevant to them their whole lives, said
Chairman Lesley Lavalleye, who got involved
nearly two decades ago. I feel like every family
is touched by heart disease. Whether its heart
attack or stroke, its pretty much
ubiquitous. Members determine the kind of
research they want to help fund, and they often
support scientists early in their careers. One
of those researchers was Yolanda Fortenberry,
Ph.D., now assistant professor of pediatric
hematology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
In 2002, the board awarded her one of her first
grants related to cardiovascular diseases. That
funding propelled my research into different
areas, Fortenberry said. The Womens Board is
allowing vital research to be conducted in areas
that are important to all of us.
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Another member, Darby Gingery, got involved
because her parents and others in her family
battle heart disease. Everyone in both my
husbands and my family have had heart issues,
Gingery said. My brother recently had a heart
attack at 42. My husband lost a brother to a
heart attack at 42, and two brothers had heart
attacks within six months of turning 50. Both his
parents died of heart disease. Katherine
Vernot-Jonas, whose husband is a pediatric heart
surgeon, joined because shes a huge believer
in medical research and a great supporter of
medical students. Her aunt died last year after
18 months in a coma following a stroke. We need
to raise awareness of heart disease among women,
reduce disability and find the cure for it, she
said.
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Ellen Kays an example of how those awareness
efforts work. The board member had high blood
pressure and heart palpitations four years ago,
prompting her to read food labels and start
regularly exercising. I love the fabulous group
of women Ive worked with over the years, and I
treasure the friendships I have made in the
process, said Kay, a member since
2001. Vice-Chair Melanie Colton joined the group
after her niece gave birth to a baby girl with
hypoplastic left heart syndrome, where the
hearts left side is underdeveloped.
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It has become a labor of love, she said. Many
of the grants funded have yielded progress in
medications and surgery procedures that have
saved the life of my great niece. She is a
thriving, healthy 5-year-old with more hope for a
full life than we first thought possible. Learn
more about CPR. Bergenfield, NJ, Jersey City, NJ,
Livingston, NJ, and Queens, New York and
Gainesville, FL. Source https//newsarchive.hea
rt.org