Are you prepared to save a life?

A Free, Hands-Only CPR Training Event

Are you prepared to save a life? Learn about life-saving Hands-Only CPR at the upcoming Citizen CPR event, sponsored by the Polk County Medical Foundation. Citizen CPR is a non-profit agency, founded in 1985 under a mission to train as many people as possible in the basics of CPR. The agency has served as a longstanding training center for the American Heart Association. Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It involves a two-step process: calling 911 and beginning high-quality chest compressions. When witnessing a cardiac arrest, if all we do is simply call 911, the victim has a one in twenty chance of leaving the hospital with the major brain functions intact. If we call 911 and begin Hands-Only CPR, the chances are far greater. Hands-Only CPR is not recommended for victims under eight years of age. A national survey of Americans, who had not been trained in CPR within the last five years, revealed that respondents said they were more likely to perform Hands-Only CPR than conventional CPR. According to Citizen CPR, about 92 percent of cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital, but statistics prove that if more people knew CPR, more lives could be saved. Citizen CPR Executive Director Susan Barham says, “Immediate CPR can double, even triple, a victim’s chance of survival. In fact, statistics also show the life you save may be someone in your own home.”

The Citizen CPR event will be held on Thursday, September 19 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Grasslands Country Club in Lakeland. The event is FREE to all Polk County residents, who are asked to reserve a seat by calling (863) 644-4051. The class is not a certification class, but guests will learn relief of choking techniques and receive an introduction to an Automated External Defibrillation (AED). The agency’s trainers will use AED training models and CPR manikins to provide demonstrations of Hands-Only CPR and teach guests how to respond to a witnessed adult cardiac arrest. The Citizen CPR event is one of several regularly sponsored events by the Polk County Medical Foundation. The foundation helps provide educational and charitable activities to promote health awareness and assist in continuing medical education for physicians, healthcare related providers, and the community. Citizen CPR provides many levels of training such as basic CPR classes for the lay person and professional classes for healthcare professionals. The agency also offers Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training, First Aid, Bloodborne Pathogens training, and instructor level courses. For more information, visit the agency website at www.citizencprinc.com.

CREDITS

story by JO LYNN DEAL

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