The San Marcos Fire Department will host three “Sidewalk CPR” public awareness events on Thursday, June 7, 2012 from 10 am to 2 pm. These events will help commemorate National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week, which runs June 3 to 9, 2012.
The fire department will have mannequins and educators on-site to teach participants how to perform “hands-only” CPR at Albertsons, 151 Woodland Parkway; Albertsons, 1929 West San Marcos Blvd; and Creekside Marketplace, 595 Grand Avenue.
Hands-only CPR is conducted without mouth-to-mouth breaths and can be used on adults who are unresponsive and not breathing. Correct chest compressions are an effective way to continue the flow of oxygen-enriched blood to vital organs in the first few minutes of a sudden cardiac arrest. The AHA does not recommend hands-only CPR with pediatrics. They also recommend everyone take a full CPR course.
“With more than 300,000 people nationwide suffering a sudden cardiac arrest annually, immediate CPR and a shock from an AED within the first three to five minutes increases the survival rate from 48 to 74 percent,” explained San Marcos Fire Chief Todd Newman. “Everyone should be armed with the knowledge and ability to save a life, and hands-only CPR is one way we can all increase the chance of survival for friends and neighbors in our community.”
This event is being held in partnership with the American Heart Association (AHA), San Diego Project Heart Beat (PHB), the American Red Cross (ARC) and the County of San Diego.
To learn more about hands-only CPR, please visit www.handsonlycpr.org.For more information on conventional CPR or to find a CPR class near you, please visit the American Heart Association at www.heart.org or the American Red Cross at www.sdarc.org.
