In Honor of Heart Month: Learn to Save a LIFE!!

So, it's heart month!  I haven't been wearing red, like I should, basically because with my job, every day is heart day and it seems to be the organ that most consumes my life!  But, for all of you that aren't so cardiac obsessed, I thought I would instill a little info that can help you save a life (or maybe multiple!)  When an adult has a cardiac arrest, the faster they get CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), the higher their chances of survival are. And sadly, less than 1/3 of people who have sudden cardiac arrests outside of the hospital setting get that help.

How can I save a life?
Well, in 2010 the American Heart Association (AHA)started a huge campaign to tout Hands-Only CPR (TM). So many people are (and were) creeped out about giving mouth to mouth to a stranger, if they found someone in distress on the street. I totally understand that, you want to help, but you aren't willing to risk your own safety and health to save them.  Got it! I also understand that if you see someone go into sudden cardiac arrest, you might be scared that you are making things worse or doing the wrong thing...that is why Hands-Only CPR (TM) is the best!  You basically call 911 when you find a person and immediately start doing chest compressions. Push hard and fast in the middle of the chest, you may feel snapping underneath your hands (its ribs breaking and it is totally normal with the amount of force you need to push on someones chest to compress their heart), and the actions that you take can only help them!!  It can be scary, and it will feel awkward to you at first, but you are doing  the right thing, just take some deep breaths, and help compress that heart to keep blood flowing to the brain. The less time the brain has blood flowing to it, the higher the risk of a person not waking up, or regaining a full recovery.

And, there is an AHA App for droids, iPhones, and Palm Pre's that helps to walk you through saving someones life.  Imagine your loved one having a massive heart attack in front of you, and how helpless you would feel just sitting there watching them as you waited for the Emergency Medical Response to come, but if you had the app, or learned about Hands Only CPR (TM) you could not only activate the Emergency Medical Response system but you could actually help to save their life as the response team is coming.  That's amazing! You can learn to do what we do in the hospital to save lives day in and day out-that is the SAME initial reaction our health care workers have!

I think this is one of the MOST amazing things you can do for yourself and for your loved ones....learn how to save a life, and encourage others to learn too!  If everyone took a few minutes to learn Hands Only CPR (TM) imagine how many lives would be benefitted and how many people we would save? Make a pledge to yourself and to your loved ones to check out the website, learn, and save a life this heart month!  Go to the website, watch the video, and get the app, I promise you won't regret it!

Hands-Only CPR 

Yours in Good Health
B