February is Heart Month; Learn Hands Only CPR to save the life of a loved one

February is Heart Month; Learn Hands Only CPR to save the life of a loved one

February is Heart Month. Veterans Memorial Hospital continues to encourage the public to learn the American Heart Association’s “Hands Only CPR.” This simple way of performing CPR is very easy to do and effective for the victim.

According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death with nearly 400,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring annually in the United States. An average of 89% of people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest die because they don’t receive immediate CPR from someone on the scene.

The American Heart Association has found Hands Only CPR to be as effective as conventional CPR for sudden cardiac arrest at home, at work, or in the public - doubling or even tripling a victim’s chance of survival.

Since 80% of cardiac arrests happen in private or residential settings, learn these simple steps for performing Hands Only CPR to help save the life of someone you love:

Call 9-1-1 immediately
• Place your hands, one on top of the other, in the center of the person’s chest.
• Begin compressions pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest.
• Keep doing compressions until help arrives.

Visit the American Heart Association’s website at www.heart.org/handsonlycpr to watch their Hands Only CPR instructional video. For more information on learning CPR locally, call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.