Lifesaving lessons

Center News

Environmental Health and Safety's CPR/AED training can help you prevent a death from sudden cardiac arrest

Photo by Dean Forbes Environmental Health & Safety's Ron Clark, left, shows Brian Henderson of Collaborative Data Services how to use an automated external defibrillator.

Every day, about 900 Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest — many of whom could have been saved.

Almost 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home in the presence of a family member. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation helps circulate blood and oxygen to the brain and vital organs and increases the amount of time that an electric shock from a defibrillator can be effective. Effective CPR, provided immediately after cardiac arrest, may double a victim's chance of survival. And early use of an automated external defibrillator can help restore the heart to its normal sinus rhythm.

The Environmental Health & Safety Department offers adult CPR/AED training classes that are free for faculty and staff. Students can practice all the skills needed to care for breathing and cardiac emergencies and receive full certification from the American Red Cross. For the class schedule, visit the EH&S Web site at https://centernet.fhcrc.org/CN/depts/ehs/training.

If you're unable to attend a regular CPR course but want some basic CPR awareness or want to practice infant and child CPR, the EH&S Department also has several take-home practice kits to loan. With self-directed learning tools, you learn basic skills at home and at your own pace. To check one out, contact EH&S at (206) 667-5585 or ehs@fhcrc.org.

CPR facts and statistics

• About 75 percent to 80 percent of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home, so CPR training can mean the difference between life and death for a loved one.



• Effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after cardiac arrest, can double a victim's chance of survival.



• CPR helps maintain vital blood flow to the heart and brain and increases the amount of time that an electric shock from a defibrillator can be effective.



• Approximately 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital.



• Sudden cardiac arrest does not have to be fatal. If more people knew CPR, more cardiac arrest victims would live.



• Brain death starts to occur four to six minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest if no CPR and defibrillation occurs during that time.



• Without bystander CPR, a sudden cardiac arrest victim's chances of survival fall 7 percent to 10 percent for every minute of delay until defibrillation. Few attempts at resuscitation are successful if CPR and defibrillation does not occur within minutes of collapse.



• Coronary heart disease accounts for about 450,000 of the 871,517 adults who die because of cardiovascular disease.



• Approximately 325,000 of all annual adult coronary heart disease deaths in the United States are due to sudden cardiac arrest suffered outside the hospital setting and in hospital emergency departments.



• Sudden cardiac arrest is most often caused by an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. Cardiac arrest can also occur after the onset of a heart attack or because of electrocution or near drowning.



• When sudden cardiac arrest occurs, the victim collapses, becomes unresponsive to gentle shaking, stops normal breathing and after two rescue breaths, still isn't breathing normally, coughing or moving.

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