PULLMAN – WSU women’s basketball Head Coach June Daugherty was named the recipient of the 2008 Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association Public Spirit Award in recognition of significant contributions in the field of sudden cardiac arrest awareness and prevention, the SCAA announced recently.
The SCAA also announced that in subsequent years the award will be called the June Daugherty Public Spirit Award. Daugherty, a survivor of sudden cardiac arrest, has been one of the nation’s most visible spokespeople for heart health awareness since returning to the coaching sidelines.
“Daugherty has not only returned to her coaching duties, but she has been a visible advocate for cardiac arrest prevention,” an SCAA release stated. “Her public service announcement for the SCAA has aired on the Fox Sports Network and she continues to look for ways to educate the public.”
The Public Spirit Award is one of a number of honors in conjunction with the SCAA’s 2008 Leadership Awards. The honorees will be feted at the SCAA Awards Dinner at the organization’s annual meeting, Oct. 18 in Philadelphia.
Other honorees include: Public Leadership Award – U.S. Representative Betty Sutton (D-OH); Corporate Leadership Award – American Airlines; Public Service Award – The Rochester (Minn.) Police Department; The University of Pennsylvania Department of Emergency Medicine’s Center for Resuscitation Science, Medical Leadership Award; SCAA Founders Award – University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic Corporation and St. Jude Medical Corporation.
SCAA is the national public advocacy organization dedicated to preventing sudden cardiac arrest through better awareness, better public response and better access to preventative medical therapy. With a growing network of more than 30 chapters and affiliates that stretches from Maine to Hawaii, its members and volunteers include sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivors, patients at risk, physicians, nurses, emergency professionals and others touched by SCA, which annually kills more than 300,000 people in the U.S.
