Dear Colleagues,

Please take three minutes to watch these video clips. I promise, you’ll be glad you did.

 
Firefighter Brought Back to Life

 
Recognizing Heart Attack Symptoms

Tony Spagnoletti, featured here, is one among hundreds of thousands of people who are living longer and living better because an interventional cardiologist diagnosed and treated their cardiovascular disease. Unbroken Hearts, the innovative story-sharing campaign that SCAI launched a month ago, is already expanding awareness of cardiovascular disease, highlighting the value of interventional cardiovascular care to the public, engaging important stakeholders and opening up the world of interventional cardiology to a new set of influencers.

The initial results have already been impressive, with social media efforts, influencer engagement and earned media results totaling more than 12 million impressions. In just the first few weeks of Tony’s story launch, SecondsCount.org saw a 22 percent increase in unique visitors via social channels such as Facebook and Twitter.  Tony’s interview on WGHP-TV in Winston-Salem was also key in sharing Tony’s story with thousands of viewers in the Winston-Salem community and beyond, and The New York Times health & fitness reporter Anahad O’Connor even retweeted the story to his followers. And, as I mentioned above, in reaching new audiences and influencers, the story attracted the interest of popular firefighter blogger Ryan Pennington, who featured Tony on his podcast, “Views from the Jumpseat.”

Tony’s story is the first in the Unbroken Hearts series. Later this month, we’ll share the story of Curtis, an avid cyclist and successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur who never had any major heart difficulties before he suffered a cardiac event while biking with his wife. Curtis’ young son, CJ, has his father because of the efforts of the cardiovascular care team who saved his life. Following that, we’ll showcase a compelling piece that defines the spirit of innovation in interventional cardiology: the journey of baby Ian, born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, who is now 11 years old and thriving due to the skill of a pediatric interventional cardiologist and a team of healthcare professionals.

We encourage you to share these stories of success with your peer networks. Here are quick and easy ways to do so:

• Retweet @SecondsCountOrg when we share Curtis’ and Ian’s stories. Please make note to use the hashtag #UnbrokenHearts.
• Share Curtis’s and Ian’s stories on Facebook from the SecondsCount.org Facebook page. 
• When we post new stories on our site, share the link via email or post the link to your social channels, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

As always, contact me at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Charles Chambers, MD, FSCAI
SCAI President, 2014-15