WORCESTER – Would you know what to do if you witnessed a cardiac emergency? Only about 46 percent of people who experience an out of hospital cardiac arrest receive the immediate help that they need before professional help arrives.
Hands-Only CPR can change that and students in central Massachusetts have been implementing the training at their schools. Auburn High School, Nashoba Regional High School, Quinsigamond Community College, Tantasqua Regional High School, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Worcester State University were all winners in the American Heart Association CPR Challenge that took place this year.
CPR and AED Awareness Week, is June 1-7 and the perfect time to learn Hands-Only CPR
It only takes two steps when you see an unresponsive adult. 1. Call 9-1-1 and 2. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest for 100 to 120 beats per minute. To make it easier and to stay on track, you can push to a song like “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees or “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.
Auburn High School trained 1,821 people in Hands-Only CPR while Tantasqua trained 1,686 and Nashoba trained 842 people. Nine schools participated this year and trained a total of over 5,400 people to be lifesavers. All the schools that participated in central Massachusetts are making a huge difference in their communities. Because of them, a life is more likely to be saved. To learn more about Hands-Only CPR, visit www.heart.org/HandsOnlyCPR.
