American Heart Association teaches CPR in Champaign to celebrate 100 years

American Heart Association teaches CPR in Champaign to celebrate 100 years

The American Heart Association celebrated 100 years of work in Champaign-Urbana at the I-Hotel on Wednesday. The event was capped off with hands-on CPR training.

It can take just a couple minutes of chest compressions to save someone’s life if they’re in trouble — but not everyone knows how to start. Now, many are trying to become part of the solution.

“In the Midwest, we are a microcosm of the most urban and the most rural. In both of those spaces, your 911 response rate may be longer,” said Yolana Wakefield-Wilson, Business Development Manager for Community CPR. “People need to be trained in a space. Champaign probably has both, where they know to do compressions, they know to start CPR until that help arrives.”

What if there’s an emergency you don’t know CPR? Wakefield-Wilson said to remember these three things: call 911, push hard and fast in the center of the chest, and don’t delay.