CPR & AED Awareness Week took place across the nation during the first week of June. The goal of this week was to raise public awareness of hands-only CPR and AED use in order to spread the word that anyone can save the life of someone in cardiac arrest. As part of this week, CPR Ready offered 15 hands-only CPR classes in the Philadelphia region. These classes resulted in the training of 841 people in hands-only CPR! That means 841 are now more prepared to save a life with these two simple steps!
- Call 911.
- Start hand compressions by pushing down hard and fast in the center of the chest.
This accomplishment was only possible with the help of CPR Ready’s many contributors including the American Heart Association, CHOP’s Youth Heart Watch, CPR/AED Public Awareness & Training Network, the Mobile CPR project, and Independence Blue Cross.
This important week was kicked off with a training and public awareness event hosted by the American Heart Association at the Independence Visitor Center on June 1st. The event began with a ceremony for the AHA’s Hometown Hero Award. This honor was awarded to a TSA officer at the Philadelphia International Airport, Jackie Hatter-Wilson, and her colleague, Stephanie Davis after they both helped save a man’s life with CPR after he entered cardiac arrest in the airport in March. Then, the Mobile CPR Project trained 60 people in hands-only CPR! This event received media coverage from Fox 29, 6 ABC and KYW News Radio. Another event hosted by CHOP’s Youth Heart Watch trained the staff of 20 charter schools in Philadelphia in both hands-only CPR and AED use. Each charter school received a free AED from Youth Heart Watch and will receive additional training in the future in order to pursue a Heart Safe School designation.
Even though this week has come to an end, CPR Ready will continue to work hard at promoting CPR and AED awareness in Philadelphia because CPR saves lives!