Greenfield, Wis. – National CPR and AED Awareness Week kicks off on Saturday, June 1, and runs through Friday, June 7. Healthline First Aid, an American Heart Association training center in Greenfield, is committed to educating and training non-medical professionals on hands-only CPR techniques and AED use to save more lives.
“More than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals every year, and 70% of those happen in homes,” said Andrew Berger, a nationally registered EMT-paramedic and owner of Healthline First Aid. “We are also seeing an alarming increase in young people — including athletes — experiencing cardiac issues. We need to train more people to respond to those medical emergencies and ultimately save lives.”
According to statistics from the American Heart Association, if you need to administer CPR in an emergency, you will most likely be trying to save the life of someone you know and love — a parent, spouse, child, friend or coworker. And yet, only 40% of people experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest will receive CPR before professional help arrives.
“You don’t have to be a paramedic to administer CPR or use an AED,” said Berger. “If you see someone go into sudden cardiac arrest, minutes — even seconds — matter.”
Berger encourages Wisconsin residents to complete a hands-only CPR training course that also covers AED use because coordinated (and early) use of both tactics improves outcomes.
Visit hlfirstaid.com to learn more or sign up for training.
