June 5, 2023
Contact: media@dhs.lacounty.gov
“Take a Minute and Save a Life”
Free Hands-Only CPR Training at Grand Park; LA County Demonstrates the Importance of Training Public on Life-Saving Skills
Los Angeles, CA – LA County residents learned how to save a life using Hands-Only CPR. Medical professionals from the Emergency Medical Services Agency, the County of Los Angeles Fire Department and the American Heart Association gathered at Grand Park to teach the public CPR using only their hands. Participants got one-on-one instruction using life-sized manikins.
Hands-Only CPR does not require mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and it can help save more lives in cardiac emergencies. According to Doctor Marianne Gausche-Hill, Medical Director for the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS), “Each year EMS responds to nearly 8000 cardiac arrests. The public and EMS can partner in caring for these patients quickly. Bystander CPR is safe, it is easy to learn, and it can be provided immediately after recognizing the cardiac arrest.” CPR focuses on the first few minutes following cardiac arrest, its goal is to keep blood and oxygen pumping to vital organs.
Before performing Hands-Only CPR, you must make sure the scene is safe, call 911 and if available, find an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). To perform Hands-Only CPR you must push hard and fast in the center of the chest at 100 – 120 beats per minute until emergency services arrive. To help keep up the pace you can push to the beat of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees or to Taylor Swift’s “The Man”.
Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the world and most cardiac arrests happen outside of a medical setting. Elsa Valay-Paz, Board Member for the American Heart Association Los Angeles said, “Nearly 3 out of 4 cardiac arrests that happen outside a hospital happen at home. That means if you’re called on to perform CPR, you will likely be saving the life of someone you love.” CPR can triple the chances of survival, which is why bystander action is crucial.
This event was just one of many taking place in Los Angeles County and across the nation as part of National Sidewalk CPR Day. “This year we have over 30 sites that will be training the public in Hands-Only CPR. Through programs such as these we have been able to increase our bystander CPR rate from 11% to 45% thus quadrupling our chance of saving lives in Los Angeles County,” said Richard Tadeo, Director of the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS).
The goal is to help provide the public with the necessary tools so that they may feel confident stepping in to save a life using Hands-Only CPR during a cardiac arrest emergency.
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