Joe Meritt, a Marine Corps combat veteran and artist, is prepped for the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) procedure at the Stella Center in Chicago, Ill. He was featured in PenFed's video series that recently won seven Emmy Awards.
PenFed Credit Union's digital division won seven Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its five-part video series that chronicles the experiences of persons who underwent a promising treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The series, titled "The Shot," features three PTSD patients before and after receiving the Stellate Ganglion Block treatment at the Stella Center in Chicago.
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Stellate Ganglion Block is a medical procedure that injects a local anesthetic into the stellate ganglion, a nerve bundle in the neck, which is connected to the brain's amygdala that processes the body's flight or fight system. Dr Eugene Lipov, the Stella Center's chief medical officer, pioneered the SGB procedure in 2006. It works by reducing activity in the brain's amygdala, alleviating it from a continuous state of flight or fight that, if left untreated, can cause various symptoms and lead to serious physical and mental health problems.
According to the Stella Center, the success rate of relieving PSTD symptoms is more than 83%.
"PenFed Digital is humbled to be recognized at this year's Emmy Awards," PenFed Vice President and Chief Content Officer Andrea McCarren said. "We are passionate about using video to capture these amazing stories and to raise awareness of the life-changing treatment and its high success rate among veterans and first responders with PTSD."
The five-part video series is available on PenFed's social media sites.
"PenFed is proud to tell the stories of the extraordinary members of our community and to inspire and help others through the sharing of our digital content," PenFed Senior EVP and President of Affiliated Businesses Shashi Vohra said. "The Digital Team had to be creative and innovative to produce engaging content amid the challenges of the pandemic over the last year, and it is incredibly rewarding to see their hard work and this meaningful story recognized."
Led by McCarren, the PenFed digital team members who produced the award-winning video series included Multimedia Producer Brian Burdett, Project Coordinator & Social Media Specialist Tamara Moller, Content Producer Shauna McNally Scarnato, Content Producer Julianna Myers, Director of Creative Content Chris Mullen and Director of Content Strategy John Mogor.
According to the $27.2 billion PenFed in McLean, Va., its digital team has earned more than 40 Emmy Awards for their work in producing broadcast and digital content.
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
