THOUSANDS OF TEXANS DIE NEEDLESSLY EACH YEAR, BECAUSE THEIR LOVED ONES DON’T KNOW CPR

DALLAS – Did you know that, according to the American Heart Association (AHA), 95 percent of cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital?

Effective cardiopulmonary (CPR) intervention can double or triple a victim's chances for survival. Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake is on a mission to decrease cardiac arrest deaths in Dallas.  Doctors has committed to promoting CPR training, especially through CPR Anytime™, an American Heart Association training program.  As a way to kick off their CPR promotion, Doctors sponsored the program at Naaman Forest High School, where faculty were trained. 

Says Dr. Bob Hillert, Doctors Hospital director of cardiology. "We are an award-winning cardiovascular hospital, so why not give back to the community in the best way we know? We were honored to be part of this program CPR Anytime teaches basic CPR skills, including how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), in a 30-minute program. The goal is for program participants to pay their newfound knowledge forward to others.  Eventually a huge portion of the Dallas community will have basic, life-saving CPR knowledge. Dr. Paul Pepe, internationally recognized CPR researcher and CPR Anytime advocate, was on hand to introduce the program at Naaman Forest.

Dr. Pepe offers this information about the importance of learning CPR

.  Despite rapid response intervals, there is no way a professional EMS rescuer can reliably, routinely get to a victim in the four to five minutes that it takes for permanent brain damage to occur when someone suddenly stops breathing or their heart stops, even if the event was witnessed.

.  Conservatively, more than 5,000 Texans die needlessly each year (more than one every two hours) because bystanders, usually family members, stood by helplessly, not knowing how to do CPR.

.  Since 70-80 percent of cases requiring CPR occur in and around the home or in the workplace, it is likely that the person needing to perform the CPR will be a loved one or friend.

.  The negative outcomes of many cases in public areas could probably be changed by the availability of a defibrillator and someone with CPR training.

Dr. Pepe says that the Dallas mayor and most current council members together took a CPR course--which included AED training--to provide a proactive example for the community.  Two of these saved a life within six months of this training.

The City also has trained all of its employees in CPR and AED use and deployed AEDs in key locations, ranging from every floor at City Hall to the Convention Center, Symphony Hall  and other locations.  The goal is to make Dallas one of the safeest places to have a heart attack. 

"Despite the advances of AED technology, it is no replacement for basic CPR techniques,' says Dr. Pepe.  Using an AED is essentially self-explanatory and has proven to save more lives than ever before.  But it's just one part of what is necessary to save lives.  We need to make sure that everyone knows how to perform the simple skill of CPR."