Heart to Heart

The mission of the

Steven M. Gootter

Foundation is

to save lives by

defeating sudden

cardiac death

through increased

awareness,

education and

scientific research.

The Steven M.

Gootter Foundation

works to increase

awareness of

sudden cardiac

death among those

who may be at risk,

fosters education

among the public

and health care

professionals, and

funds scientific

research into the

causes of and

treatments for

sudden cardiac

death.

www.gootter.org

Working to Conquer Sudden Cardiac Death Vol. V Fall 2012

Gootter Endowed Chair for Sudden Cardiac Death Research Established

This past March, after seven years of fundraising, the Steven M. Gootter Foundation met its goal of $2 million to create an endowed chair at the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center.

“We truly could not be happier with the appointment of Jil C. Tardiff, MD, PhD, as the Steven M. Gootter Endowed Chair for Sudden Cardiac Death Research. Dr. Tardiff’s unparalleled expertise in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy coupled with her drive and passion to improve treatment and find a cure for this insidious disease makes her uniquely qualified for the position,” says Claudine Messing, vice president of the Gootter Foundation and sister of Steven.

For Tardiff, the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center’s reputation in heart muscle research was a major draw in her decision to accept the position. “The UA always has been known as a stellar center for muscle research,” says Dr. Tardiff, who joined the faculty as a professor in the Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, and the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine in the UA College of Medicine, and the BIO5 Institute.

“I have tremendous respect for the Gootter Foundation and the UA Sarver Heart Center Resuscitation Research

Accomplishment Comes After Seven Years of Fundraising

Jil C. Tardiff, MD, PhD, is introduced at the 2012 Gootter Grand Slam.

Group. There is no greater gift than a successful resuscitation. To develop all of these programs, provide AEDs and help broaden the knowledge in the community of the new approach to CPR that was developed at the UA is an incredible accomplishment,” says Dr. Tardiff.

Save the Date for the 2013 Gootter Grand Slam

World #1 Doubles Team to Play in 2013 Grand SlamThe Steven M. Gootter Foundation is excited

to announce that Bob and Mike Bryan, the #1 doubles team in the world, will be playing at this year’s Gootter Grand Slam on March 17, 2013. They have won more Grand Slam

titles than any doubles team in history. We are also thrilled to announce that former

World champion Mats Wilander and tennis great Murphy Jensen will also be

joining us at this year’s event.

With a lot of help from dedicated community partners, including the Gootter Foundation and Kaimas Foundation, and a proclamation from the City of Tucson, the UA Sarver Heart Center engaged in “Be A Lifesaver Tucson” month. Public education activities began Feb. 23 at the UA men’s basketball game against USC, with University of Arizona Medical Center donating its game sponsorship.

Before the game, volunteers from the Rincon/University High School boys basketball team placed 14,000 “3 Points/3 Steps” cards on each seat in McKale Center. During a time-out, a 30-second public service announcement was shown to fans in the arena as well as the TV audience. The PSA featured UA basketball legend Steve Kerr, training people to recognize

Steven M. GootterFoundation Board of Directors

Andrew Messing President

Claudine Messing Vice President

Rob Aronoff Treasurer

Steve Weintraub Secretary

Bobby Present Immediate Past President

Joyce N. BarkleyAnn CharlesGordon A. Ewy, M.D.Debra GootterJoe GootterPaulette GootterShari GootterTom PothoffSteve RosenbergLeigh Ann WaterfallArianne Weiner, Ph.D

Gootter GrandSlam CommitteeAsher AmarJessica BaylonJeff BrackMichelle BrownSusan DellheimChuck DunnMolly EglinEvan FeldhausenJil FeldhausenDebbie FleischmanNorma GentryJill HarlowSheila HippsLyssa HolmesMeghan HoukAshley JonesJudi KesslerBob KivelClint McCallMelissa McCoyJeff MillerJessica MonashGinny MurphyBrent NelsonEmily PollockJim ReffkinDave SilverRick SmallAbbie StonePeter StrongAmy StuchenMaryPat Ware

Advisory CouncilJack Copeland, M.D.Carol Gregorio, Ph.DDan HicksFletcher McCuskerJames H. Moore, Jr.Robert SarverVince Sorrell, M.D.Christine J. Toretti

PhilanthropicAward RecipientsGordon A. Ewy, M.D.Alfie and Allan NorvilleBobby PresentRobert and Penny SarverNeelam and Gulshan SethiBazy Tankersley

Be A Lifesaver Tucson Campaign Provides Nostalgic Glimpse of March Madness

News from the Steven M. Gootter Foundation www.gootter.org

The Steven M. Gootter Foundation will honor Ginny Clements with its Philanthropic Award at the 2013 Gootter Grand Slam. Clements, Chairman of the Board of Golden Eagle Distributors, Inc., has an extensive background of service to the Tucson community. Her affiliations include membership on the boards of the University of Arizona Foundation, Carondelet Neurological Institute, Junior Achievement of Arizona and the Steele Children’s Research Center. A member of Angel Charity for Children, Inc. since its inception in 1974, she served as the General Chairman in 1990 and currently serves on the Advisory Board. Together with her children, Ginny founded and serves as Director to the Wings Like Eagles Foundation. A breast cancer survivor, Ginny established the Ginny L. Clements Fund for Breast Cancer Research and has served on the Arizona Cancer Center Advisory Board for over 20 years. Ginny is married to Tom Rogers. She has two children, Christopher Clements and Kimberly Clements, two step daughters, Tiffany Marson and Michelle Rogers and is the proud “Grammy” to Gracie, Preston, Colt, Brian, Emma and Rilan.

Foundation to Honor Ginny Clements

Ginny Clements

At the Gootter Grand Slam, tennis pros Mikael Pernfors and Murphy Jensen, join UA Football Coach Rich Rodriguez to demonstrate the “3Cs” of chest-compression-only CPR in the event of sudden cardiac arrest: Check… Call… Compress.

sudden cardiac arrest and to respond with the three Cs: check, call 911, compress.

Through March 25, the date of the Gootter Grand Slam, people were encouraged to visit www.BeALifesaverTucson.com to watch a 2-minute video featuring Kerr. Research by Bentley J. Bobrow, MD, member of the UA Sarver Heart Center Resuscitation Research Group and director of the AZ SHARE program, shows that people who watch a brief video obtain a strong understanding of how to respond in the event of sudden cardiac arrest.

If you missed Arizona excitement during March Madness, you can get a championship glimpse by visiting the website: www.BeALifesaverTucson.com

Heart to Heart Fall 2012www.gootter.org

What’s Next for the Gootter Foundation?

The Steven M. Gootter Foundation is pleased to announce its 2012-13 officers:

President: Andrew MessingVice-President: Claudine MessingTreasurer: Rob AronoffSecretary: Steve WeintraubImmediate Past President: Bobby Present

Foundation Announces 2012-2013 Officers

We have made great strides in our efforts to eradicate sudden cardiac death, but there are still 1,000 lives lost each day in the United States. In our next year, we will expand the promotion of the Be a LifeSaver campaign, teaching the public about sudden cardiac death, continuous chest compression CPR, and training on the use of an AED.

We will distribute more AED’s throughout our community so that these life saving devices will be more available to victims of sudden cardiac arrest. And we will continue to fund investigator awards, seed money for promising researchers who otherwise would not be able to get funding for their sudden cardiac death research.

Sarver Heart Center’s Youngest InvestigatorFor last year’s science project, third-grader Drew Messing, a student at Castlehill Country Day School in Tucson, set out to answer the question, “How many kids does it take to save a life?”

Because his uncle, Steven Gootter, lost his life to sudden cardiac arrest, Drew is aware that the most important intervention after a cardiac arrest is performing chest-compression-only CPR. With this knowledge, Drew set out to educate his fellow classmates and discover whether or not together they could save a life. Drew’s preliminary hypothesis concluded that larger students would be able to do more compressions and, because of the smaller students, it would require the combination of many students’ efforts to save a life.

As part of his procedure, Drew enlisted help from UA Sarver Heart Center staff members Clint McCall and Melissa Ludgate to train the entire third- through fifth-grade classes in chest-compression-only CPR. After this, he collected students’ ages, heights and weights along with their grade levels. Then all the students tried performing CPR for one minute while Drew measured the number of adequate compressions they could perform. After this first session, the top students from each grade were assembled in pairs. Two students alternated adequate CPR each minute for six minutes, which is the average response time in Tucson for EMS to arrive.

Drew’s results revealed that the oldest and heaviest students performed the best compressions, and height and grade level were not factors. Most importantly, two kids working together are enough to save a life! Drew won first place for grades three through five in the Biomedical Exhibit from the Pima County Medical Foundation.

Drew Messing took first place for his grade level at the regional sci-ence fair. Below he demonstrates chest-compression-only CPR to Melissa Ludgate and his class.

Heart to HeartWorking to Conquer Sudden Cardiac Death

Post Office Box 64583Tucson, Arizona 85728-4583Tel. 520-615-6430www.gootter.org

Gootter Grand SlamSteven M. Gootter Foundation

The Eighth Annual

SAVE THE DATE!

March 16-17, 2013

7th Annual Gootter Grand Slam

Dr. Gulshan and Neelam Sethi, Dr. Gordon and Priscilla Ewy, Humberto and Czarina Lopez, Dr. Lori Mackstaller

Auctioneer Elliot Glicksman with an AED

Members of the UA Women’s Tennis Team with Murphy Jensen

Andrew Messing, Kate Rennemo, Murphy Jensen, Paulette Gootter, Claudine Messing, Mikael Pernfors

Debbie, Sophie and Max Gootter

Jenine Dalrymple, Stuart and Lyssa Holmes, Phil Dalrymple

UA Football CoachRich Rodriguez