Help desperately needed: American Heart Association launches 'Nation of Lifesavers' program

Help desperately needed: American Heart Association launches 'Nation of Lifesavers' program
In a medical emergency, rather than standing by — be a lifesaver, urges American Heart Association
As the American Heart Association (AHA) continues its CPR and AED Awareness Week, which began on June 1, Fox News Digital spoke to CEO Nancy Brown about the critical need for as many Americans as possible to learn lifesaving CPR — specifically, hands-only CPR.

The AHA, founded in 1924 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is the world’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.

"It's really important for people to understand the warning signs of a heart attack or a stroke and to understand what happens if they were ever to witness someone having a cardiac arrest that required emergency action," Brown told Fox News Digital in a comprehensive phone interview. 

"In any of those three cases — cardiac arrest, heart attack or stroke — the most important thing is always to take immediate action," said Brown.

She also said, "Calling 911 to activate an emergency response is a critical thing for people to do. And it is often surprising to us that people hesitate because they're concerned — let's say if a loved one is having a heart attack or a stroke — and they might think, ‘Well, what if it’s not really a heart attack or a stroke? What if we're bothering the doctors?'"

It is why, she said, that calling 911 right away is critical.

She added, "At the American Heart Association, we are calling on everyone to become part of our nation of lifesavers. Right now," she added, "we have a lot of bystanders and not enough lifesavers."

Brown said that roughly 350,000 Americans die each year of cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting. 

"Of the almost 400,000 people who experience cardiac arrest outside the hospital setting, fewer than 10% of them survive," she said.

These are people, said Brown, who are going about their business — people "who may have an event in their workplace or at the grocery store, in their home, on the street, at a football game, at any number of locations."

And so "we really urge people to learn the valuable skill of hands-only CPR."

This method, she added, "can be learned in just two minutes by watching the hands-only CPR video at heart.org. Basically, you need to know to press hard and fast in the middle of the chest on a person whom you believe has had a cardiac arrest."

She said that the song, "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees, continues to be recommended for its beat when doing CPR. (The organization has a "Don't Drop the Beat" playlist in which all songs are between 100-120 beats per minute, "the same rate at which you should perform compressions when administering CPR," it says. "Stayin' Alive" is at the top of the list.)

"And you can really help a person have an extended chance at life," said Brown.

While there are those who may hesitate to take action because they're afraid of "getting it wrong" or afraid to step in and become involved in an emergency, Brown said it is far better to become trained and confident about that training.

"Over the years we've worked really hard to remove the barriers for people being unwilling to jump in and take action if they witness a cardiac arrest," she said.

She noted that years ago, both mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and hand compressions were emphasized.

"We studied very carefully the effectiveness of hands-only compressions in saving lives and restarting someone's heart," she said. "The answer is — it absolutely can save lives. And therein became the focus on hands-only CPR." 

She said that this emphasis on hands-only CPR "removed one of the barriers of bystanders jumping in and taking action."

Brown said that cardiac arrest means the heart has stopped pumping blood to the brain and other vital organs.

"The purpose of administering CPR is to restart the heart and to get that blood flowing again," she said. "Administering CPR will truly save a life. You will be the next step in the chain of survival" of that individual.

Said Brown, "If you see a person whom you believe has had a cardiac arrest, you always first say to someone else standing around you, ‘Call 911 immediately,' as you start the chest compressions. And if there is an AED [an automated external defibrillator], get someone to bring the defibrillator over to you," she said, so that the heart can be restarted.

"If we are trained," she added in these procedures, "we are more confident — and if you witness a person having a cardiac arrest, your instinct to help someone survive will take over."

But if people are not trained, she said, then they won't "know what to do. And that's why this focus on hands-only CPR during CPR Awareness Week is so important."

The American Heart Association emphasizes that in the workplace or business, employers, employees and customers can all be "the first part of the chain of survival by becoming lifesavers in these scenarios. It is as simple as calling 911 and pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest until help arrives."

Brown detailed the various types of training today, including online and remote training.

"There are the traditional courses that anyone can take at the local hospital or the YMCA — and many companies," she added, "offer extended CPR and AED training. Which of course, we believe in very strongly and it's a really important component of being fully trained."

American Heart News on Twitter: "DYK you can learn how to help save a life with just your hands? #HandsOnlyCPR #NationofLifesavers #CPRWeek https://t.co/ESLNCryuj2" / Twitter