Latest news with #StephanieThomas
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
When 2-year-old goes into cardiac arrest, parents take life-saving action
Most parents of toddlers worry about sleep habits and sniffles, but heart failure isn't usually a concern. It certainly wasn't on the Thomases' radar when their 2-year-old son went into sudden cardiac arrest in the middle of the night at their Illinois home. When the child woke up screaming, his parents ran into the room. (See the video at the top of this article.) Hoda Kotb Reveals Daughter's Concerning Diagnosis Influenced Her Exit From 'Today' "Hearing him scream out was alarming, as he usually slept soundly, and it was a horrible cry," Stephanie Thomas told Fox News Digital. "When I went into his room, he continued to scream out and then face-plant into his crib." Read On The Fox News App At first, the couple thought their son was just having a night terror, so Stephanie Thomas — a clinical dietitian at OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois — sat next to her son's crib with her hand on his back, trying to calm him down. "When he finally settled, I could feel his breathing slowly come to a stop," she recalled. "I picked him up out of his crib and placed him on the floor. With him being unresponsive, I felt for a pulse and started CPR." She added, "I was petrified and confused about how my seemingly healthy 2-year-old was in this situation." As she performed CPR, her husband, Kris Thomas, called 911. Emergency responders rushed the boy to OSF HealthCare. After 11 days of testing, he was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome, a very rare heart condition that can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death. Though there can be some signs of Brugada syndrome, such as fainting or passing out, the condition is often not discovered until cardiac arrest occurs. The Thomases' son had a similar incident about a month before the cardiac arrest, which they now believe may have been his first episode. Ai Breakthrough Allows Doctors To 'See' Dangerous Blood Clots Forming "He woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible scream, had some gasping and was hard to calm," Stephanie recalled. "It was only a short period, and once he calmed, he seemed 'normal.' We assumed it was a night terror." As Brugada syndrome is often inherited, both parents were tested for genetic abnormalities, but it was determined their son's syndrome is a "mosaic defect," which is when there are two or more genetically different sets of cells in the body. The OSF team implanted the young boy with an EV-ICD (extravascular implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), which is positioned outside the heart's blood vessels. It's designed to detect and correct any abnormal heart rhythms. This was the first time the device was implanted in a child at such a young age, the hospital noted in a press release. Since the first episode, the child has been hospitalized six more times. Each time an abnormal heart rhythm is detected, the EV-ICD delivers a "life-saving shock" to the boy's heart. "Our son acts and appears healthy more than 99% of the time, until his heart gets into an arrhythmia that his body and medication cannot manage on their own," Stephanie Thomas told Fox News Digital. "In these cases, he receives a shock from his ICD." Cdc Removes Covid Vaccine Recommendation For Healthy Children And Pregnant Women The boy has been readmitted to the hospital due to arrhythmias and medication titration seven times since his initial discharge, his mother added. Sunita Ferns, M.D., a pediatric electrophysiologist at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center who is treating the Thomases' son, noted that her young patient is now "married to cardiology." "We monitor these devices constantly. If we see any arrhythmia in the background, despite the medication he's on, we can offer him other technologies," Dr. Ferns said in the OSF press release. Baby With Fatal Brain Disorder 'Saved' By Anonymous $47K Donation "Ablative technologies can help modify the substrate, which is the tissue that's responsible for the bad rhythm." To help control his arrhythmias, the boy also takes a compounded oral medication every six hours, which he will take for the rest of his life. For more Health articles, visit The parents said it can be challenging to navigate the episodes with a 2-year-old who can't understand what's happening. "The hardest part is when he says things like, 'I can't use the elephant blankie because it shocked me,'" said Stephanie Thomas. "He makes these associations between being shocked and the objects or places around him." There are specific triggers for the boy's arrhythmias, the family has learned, such as low-grade fevers and even slight illnesses, like a cold. Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter "It is vital that we keep him as healthy as we can — which can be challenging with an active 2-year-old and [also] having a 4-year-old," the mom said. "We make sure that he stays up to date on his and our whole family's vaccines. We do our best to tightly regulate any temperatures." The Thomases now aim to raise awareness of the importance of having CPR training, being alert to warning signs and putting an emergency plan in place. As a healthcare employee, Stephanie Thomas has maintained her Basic Life Support (BLS) certification for over 10 years. "I have always said that I work with doctors and nurses, so I felt this was something I would never use — but the doctors and nurses were not in my house the night my son went into cardiac arrest, so it was left to me."Original article source: When 2-year-old goes into cardiac arrest, parents take life-saving action
Fox News
29-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
When 2-year-old goes into cardiac arrest, parents take life-saving action
Most parents of toddlers worry about sleep habits and sniffles, but heart failure isn't usually a concern. It certainly wasn't on the Thomases' radar when their 2-year-old son went into sudden cardiac arrest in the middle of the night at their Illinois home. When the child woke up screaming, his parents ran into the room. "Hearing him scream out was alarming, as he usually slept soundly, and it was a horrible cry," Stephanie Thomas told Fox News Digital. "When I went into his room, he continued to scream out and then face-plant into his crib." At first, the Thomases thought their son was just having a night terror, so Stephanie — who is a clinical dietitian at OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois — sat next to his crib with her hand on his back, trying to calm him down. "When he finally settled, I could feel his breathing slowly come to a stop," she recalled. "I picked him up out of his crib and placed him on the floor. With him being unresponsive, I felt for a pulse and started CPR." "I was petrified and confused about how my seemingly healthy 2-year-old was in this situation." "I was petrified and confused about how my seemingly healthy 2-year-old was in this situation." As Stephanie performed CPR, her husband, Kris, called 911. Emergency responders rushed the boy to OSF HealthCare. After 11 days of testing, he was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome, a very rare heart condition that can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death. Though there can be some signs of Brugada syndrome, such as fainting or passing out, the condition is often not discovered until cardiac arrest occurs. The Thomases' son had a similar incident about a month before the cardiac arrest, which they now believe may have been his first episode. "He woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible scream, had some gasping and was hard to calm," Stephanie recalled. "It was only a short period, and once he calmed, he seemed 'normal.' We assumed it was a night terror." As Brugada syndrome is often inherited, the Thomases were both tested for genetic abnormalities, but it was determined that their son's syndrome is a "mosaic defect," which is when there are two or more genetically different sets of cells in the body. The OSF team implanted the young boy with an EV-ICD (extravascular implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), which is positioned outside the heart's blood vessels. It is designed to detect and correct any abnormal heart rhythms. This was the first time the device was implanted in a child at such a young age, the hospital noted in a press release. Since the first episode, the Thomases' son has been hospitalized six more times. Each time an abnormal heart rhythm is detected, the EV-ICD delivers a "life-saving shock" to the boy's heart. "Our son acts and appears healthy more than 99% of the time, until his heart gets into an arrhythmia that his body and medication cannot manage on their own," Stephanie told Fox News Digital. "In these cases, he receives a shock from his ICD." The boy has been readmitted to the hospital due to arrhythmias and medication titration seven times since his initial discharge, his mother added. Sunita Ferns, M.D., a pediatric electrophysiologist at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center who is treating the Thomases' son, noted that her young patient is now "married to cardiology." "We monitor these devices constantly. If we see any arrhythmia in the background, despite the medication he's on, we can offer him other technologies," Dr. Ferns said in the OSF press release. "Ablative technologies can help modify the substrate, which is the tissue that's responsible for the bad rhythm." To help control his arrhythmias, the boy also takes a compounded oral medication every six hours, which he will take for the rest of his life. The parents said it can be challenging to navigate the episodes with a 2-year-old who can't understand what's happening. "The hardest part is when he says things like, 'I can't use the elephant blankie because it shocked me,'" Stephanie said. "He makes these associations between being shocked and the objects or places around him." There are specific triggers for the boy's arrhythmias, the Thomases have learned, such as low-grade fevers and even slight illnesses, like a cold. "It is vital that we keep him as healthy as we can — which can be challenging with him being an active 2-year-old and having a 4-year-old," Stephanie said. "We make sure that he stays up to date on his and our whole family's vaccines. We do our best to tightly regulate any temperatures." "It is vital that we keep him as healthy as we can." The Thomases now aim to raise awareness of the importance of having CPR training, being alert to warning signs and putting an emergency plan in place. As a healthcare employee, Stephanie has maintained her Basic Life Support (BLS) certification for over 10 years. For more Health articles, visit "I have always said that I work with doctors and nurses, so felt that this was something I would never use — but the doctors and nurses were not in my house the night my son went into cardiac arrest, so it was left to me."
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Secretary of the State aims to make voting easier for incarcerated people in CT
Advocates for incarcerated individuals in Connecticut say it needs to be easier for people in custody to cast their ballots. And while a bill being considered in the legislature seeks to expand access, some say it wouldn't go far enough. The proposed bill which passed out of committee in March and awaits a vote in the House, would require the Secretary of the State to provide the Department of Correction (DOC) with absentee ballot application forms that eligible individuals in custody could fill out, and to distribute them to those people. 'It is the very least we can do to chip away at this problem,' Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said during a forum at the Capitol on Tuesday. An incarcerated person who wants to vote in Connecticut has to do so by absentee ballot, and they remain voters in the town they last resided, not where the prison is located. Thomas explained that this means incarcerated people — who have no access to the internet — must research the name of their town clerks, write a letter to the clerk requesting an absentee ballot application form, mail that letter to the town, receive the application form, fill it out, mail it back, and wait for the absentee ballot itself to arrive. 'And hopefully this all happens by 8 p.m. on Election Day,' Thomas said. Absentee ballots are only available 31 days before a general election, Thomas said, and the slow speed of the postal system often prevents the ballots from arriving in time to be counted by a town clerk. Only people convicted of a felony lose their right to vote in Connecticut — and only while they're incarcerated. People convicted of a misdemeanor, or people awaiting trial who can't afford to post bail, retain their voting rights. According to Department of Correction statistics, about 3,800 of the 11,200 people incarcerated in Connecticut have not been sentenced. Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, said the bill was developed in collaboration with the Secretary of the State's Office and in discussion with advocates. 'Obviously with legislation like this, there's always a balance between trying to provide as much access as possible to the voters and the logistical details which need to be practicable and communicable,' Blumenthal said. Avery Gilbert, a clinical lecturer at Yale Law School, said the state's voting restrictions for people convicted of felonies should be revisited, too. Some of those individuals who've completed their sentences remain afraid to vote, even after the right is restored. Gilbert also said simply providing absentee ballot applications to incarcerated individuals isn't enough because the bill doesn't require the Department of Correction to distribute the applications — and it doesn't cover the cost of postage. 'Simply putting absentee ballot applications in facilities is a nice first start. There's no guarantee that those are going to be handed out. There's no guarantee that someone is going to be informed enough to know to put it in the envelope, have the resources to get the postage, mail it, and do all those things in a timely fashion,' Gilbert said. Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, said he opposed the bill — and he voted against it — because he's concerned about simply giving absentee ballot applications to the Department of Correction to distribute. 'I think that there's an opportunity for abuse there,' Sampson said. Sampson said in similar situations where a large number of voters is living in one place, such as with a nursing home, a local registrar of voters would go in person to the facility to distribute absentee ballots. Thomas it was difficult to offer in-person voting at a correctional institution, since Democrat and Republican registrars of voters from multiple towns would have to be at the correctional facilities to oversee the process. Sampson said he believed incarcerated people should instead vote in the town where the correctional facility was located, rather than their hometown. Blumenthal said while he understands the bill isn't a 'panacea,' legislators are waiting to see how the new absentee ballot application regulations work before making additional demands on the Department of Correction. 'Before we require DOC to take specific action, I think we want to see how this process works on a voluntary basis in terms of DOC's involvement,' Blumenthal said. The bill does require Department of Correction staff to ensure absentee ballots are delivered to each incarcerated person even if they've been transferred to another facility in the system. Blumenthal added that some advocates had also expressed concern around DOC staff forcing people in custody to vote rather than just assisting them. And he said he feared covering the cost of postage might make the bill less likely to pass at a time when state finances are limited. Thomas said her office has created printed and digital materials for incarcerated individuals describing the voting process, and she said her office is working with DOC to schedule voter registration drives at different prison facilities through the remainder of the spring, summer and fall. Gilbert said that communities with the highest rates of incarceration, like Hartford and Bridgeport, also have the lowest numbers of people voting. 'These are habits, they are behaviors, and they inform and impact generational poverty for years to come,' she said. 'I don't think anybody in this room would disagree that all children's interests should be represented in some way, and incarcerated parents don't have that opportunity to influence resources going to their children's schools, to influence the issues that matter deeply to their community.' James Jeter, the executive director of the Full Citizens Coalition to Unlock the Vote, echoed Gilbert, saying that many people he knew from his time being incarcerated hadn't even thought about voting. He blamed this partially on the policy of eliminating the right to vote for people convicted of felonies during their time in prison. 'When you talk about civic engagement and even real forms of rehabilitation, how do you make someone more communal and civically minded when conditions that are completely results of policy decisions have really not allowed them to?' he said. 'The degradation of levels of poverty in this state don't allow people to think as a community. They just think about surviving.' And he added that if one generation in a family hasn't made a habit of voting, the younger generations tend not to either. Thomas said she knew simply showing up with absentee ballot application forms wasn't going to be enough to convince people to vote. She said her office has uploaded civics information and a voter guide to the tablets incarcerated people use to communicate. 'Yes, we need to look at access to the actual ballot, but I also believe that we need to look more closely at — how do you offset this lack of belief that your voice even has agency?' said Thomas. 'I hope the legislature will take that up in addition to providing access in future sessions." Emilia Otte is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror ( Copyright 2025 © The Connecticut Mirror. This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Connecticut prisoners could more easily vote in elections under bill
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Capitol Report: Leaders debate energy legislation, DEI, PURA Commissioner
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — This week on Capitol Report, the panel discusses the future of energy legislation in Connecticut, including a new proposal to cut utility rates by 20%. Not all lawmakers are buying in. Plus, the Connecticut Department of Education declines to comply with the Executive Order to end DEI in schools and a walkout occurred during the PURA Commissioner nomination vote. News 8 political reporter Mike Cerulli shares more on energy legislation. The panel discusses an apology from Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas over comments regarding the Trump administration and how a Stamford Mayoral candidate is a time traveler from space. Watch the show in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Capitol Report: Public health funding cuts in Connecticut
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — This week on Capitol Report, Democrats respond to public health funding cuts in Connecticut, while the GOP slams Gov. Ned Lamont for what they call a 'culture of corruption.' Plus, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas responds to President Donald Trump's executive order on elections. News 8's political reporter Mike Cerulli on Connecticut's gubernatorial line of succession legislation. Watch the show in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
