Learn CPR - Save A Life

June 13, 2010
By: Stacy Sawyer

      Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation, more commonly known as CPR, was created 50 years ago by American Heart Association research. To help celebrate its anniversary, the American Heart Association is looking for one million people to be trained in CPR this month. Specifically, the Association is looking to teens to help reach this aggressive number.

      "We are reaching out to teens to create the next generation of lifesavers," said Michael Sayre, M.D., chairman of the American Heart Association's Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee. "Teens can learn how to save lives and play an important role by setting an example for their friends, families and neighbors about the need for CPR and AED training -- and they can encourage the adults in their lives to learn CPR."

      To get trained visit americanheart.org/cpr and click on the ECC Class Connector to find a class near you. If you are unable to attend a class, a self-directed, at-home CPR kit is available. CPR Anytime kits are available at www.cpranytime.org.

      Sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anywhere. And when it does, a victim's survival depends on the people around them. Skilled emergency personnel treat about 300,000 victims of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest in the United States, but more than 92 percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital die from it.

      Training more people to perform CPR, in its 50th year, as a lifesaving measure -- increases survival by enabling more possible bystanders to handle an emergency. Less than one-third of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims receive CPR from a bystander. Without immediate CPR, the chance of surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest drops up to 10 percent for each minute that passes without defibrillation. This means that by the time EMS personnel arrive on the scene it could be too late.

      "CPR and AED training are critical to saving lives", Sayre said. "CPR Week is one way we hope to increase awareness about cardiac arrest as a significant health problem and get teens and adults to take action so more lives can be saved."

For more information about CPR Week, visit CPRweek.org.

Stacy Sawyer
Communications Director -- American Heart Association
989-225-7513 (cell)
517-349-3240 (fax)

I invite your questions and feedback.