Giving You the Tools to Save a Life
June 1-7 is National CPR Awareness Week
According to the American Heart Association, each year, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States.
Because the survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac emergencies is so low, first responders are making a push to get more people trained in CPR. According to Nathan Gorman, EMS Training Coordinator at OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana, the main goal in CPR training is to make sure everyone knows how to give CPR and when to give it.
“Overall survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is pretty abysmal. It’s usually around 10%. But in communities where everyone knows CPR like Seattle, it can actually get up to like 50-60%, so that’s really why it’s important that everyone knows how to do CPR and how to do it properly, and is not afraid to give CPR,” said Gorman.
That’s why the American Heart Association has dubbed June 1 – June 7 National CPR Awareness Week.
Performing CPR can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.
Gorman says knowing CPR empowers bystanders to take action. A bystander of a sudden cardiac arrest can increase a person’s chances of survival dramatically by performing hands-only CPR until paramedics arrive. Training, according to Gorman, provides peace of mind.
“They also leave knowing that may be someone in their family that they need to help out, and now they have the tools to be able to do that,” he said.
On top of getting trained in hands-only CPR, Gorman suggests downloading the PulsePoint mobile application. When a cardiac arrest occurs, the PulsePoint app has the ability to send an alert to CPR-trained individuals in the immediate area, allowing them to respond immediately. PulsePoint also provides a list of the closest public access defibrillator (AED) is located.
“Every minute we lose about 10% survival rate,” explained Gorman. “An average response is 5-6 minutes, that’s 50-60% that we’ve lost, where if we get laypeople there to respond it can start increasing those survival rates.”