Winthrop-University Hospital’s “Long Island Miracles” Advocacy Group, the Long Island Chapter of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association, will offer a free lecture, “ICD (Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator): The Shock of Your Life,” on Monday, March 1, 2010, at 7:00 PM. The program will be held at Winthrop’s Community Outreach Center, located at 101 Mineola Boulevard at the corner of Second Street in Mineola.

Guest speaker Timothy Kiedrowski, a 25-year-old survivor of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), who experienced his first episode at age 18 and has had multiple life-saving interventions from his ICD, will discuss how he has reduced his episodes through medication, diet and lifestyle changes.

ICDs help prevent sudden cardiac arrest, which is an abrupt loss of heart function. A major health problem, it kills an estimated 325,000 people each year in the United States. It is triggered by an electrical problem that causes the heart to stop beating, and is often confused with a heart attack. ICDs save lives by delivering a small shock to the heart to return it to its normal rhythm.

For further information or to reserve a seat, please call (516) 663-3889 or e-mail longislandmiracles@suddencardiacarrest.org.