Mike Stone, Spangler Graphics, center, was awarded the Ambassador of the Year at the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber’s annual meeting on March 7. He is with Todd LaSala, right, Partner at Stinson Leonard Street and KCK Chamber Board chairman; and Pat Warren, left, president of Kansas Speedway and KCK Chamber Board Member. Kansas Speedway was the 2014 annual meeting presenting sponsor. (Photo from Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce)
Carole Diehl, president of the Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association, has stepped down.
Diehl will continue to serve on the board as a vice president, while Tim Ryan will serve as the new president of the association, according to an announcement. Diehl chose not to run for re-election at a meeting March 13.
“I’m really going to miss them and am really sorry my tenure had to come to an end, but together we did a lot of great things in the 17 years I was president,” Diehl said. “Thanks to all for supporting me, and I hope they support Tim. I want them to be as behind him as they were behind me.”
“Carole will be missed,” said Nick A. Tomasic, vice president, in a news release. “She was the face and the voice of the Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association. She was a tireless advocate, always thinking and planning the next project to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood. Her accomplishments, too numerous to list here, are well known to the community. She was able to get the people involved in the association. She wanted to make Strawberry Hill a place of pride in our community as a whole.”
Ryan is the director of sales for Hilton Garden Inn in Kansas City, Kan.
“I want to thank everyone involved in the Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association,” Ryan said. “I appreciate everyone’s assistance and patience as we work through the transition period.”
The mission of the Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association is to work in cooperation with all residents toward the preservation, restoration and revitalization of the Strawberry Hill community, the association stated. It strives to improve and develop Strawberry Hill into a community that provides a safe, clean climate that attracts new businesses and homeowners. The association’s website is at www.strawberryhillkck.com.
Cardiologists at The University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, Kan., are the first in the region to offer the S-ICD system, an implantable defibrillator that sits just under the skin, leaving the heart muscle untouched.
The device is designed for patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest, an abrupt loss of heart function caused by chaotic activity of the heart. The S-ICD system constantly monitors a patient’s heart, delivering a lifesaving shock if sudden cardiac arrest strikes.
What makes the S-ICD system different from other implantable cardiac defibrillators is that it sits just under the skin without the need for thin, insulated wires, or leads, to be placed into the heart itself. This leaves the heart and blood vessels untouched, providing many benefits for patients. Those include less scarring, less chance of infection and a quicker recovery.
“This is an insurance policy, it’s like a couple of paramedics sitting in your chest all the time just riding around, and when your heart needs something it springs into action and shocks it back into rhythm,” said Dr. Rhea Pimentel, an electrophysiologist at The University of Kansas Hospital. “It’s the perfect device for patients who don’t need the pacing that a traditional implantable defibrillator provides.”
The American Heart Association estimates approximately 850,000 people in the United States are at risk of sudden cardiac arrest and need an implantable pacemaker but remain unprotected.
A KU Hospital video about the defibrillator is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl3Cb73xf3Y.
