by Patrick W. Emmett

A Second Chance: Surviving Sudden Cardiac Death exposes the need for a more heart-health aware society through one man's remarkable near-death experience.

It was a cold January morning in the skies over Minnesota when, suddenly, in an airplane at 30,000 feet, Patrick Emmett felt a discomfort in his chest, then a numbness in his hands and pain in his right shoulder. The flight attendant asked if he needed assistance, and then he collapsed into a sudden cardiac arrest and died on the spot. Only through the quick thinking of airline personnel and two passengers on the plane were they able to get Pat out of his seat to administer CPR, and eventually deliver a shock from an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED).

A Second Chance: Surviving Sudden Cardiac Death looks at the dramatic events that led up to Pat's sudden cardiac arrest and the struggles with recovery after the event. Pat tells a compelling story to encourage readers to change their current lifestyles and to become actively involved with providing information to the public about heart health and sudden cardiac death. In the United States alone, nearly 400,000 people collapse from sudden cardiac arrest each year. Only 6% of them are rescued. The ratio of saves can be dramatically improved with public awareness, testing, and placement of AEDs in all public places.
A Second Chance: Surviving Sudden Cardiac Death also has a medical quick reference guide to wade through the many medical acronyms and the jargon common when referring to heart disease. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in heart health and saving lives.