National CPR Week raises awareness for saving lives

Every second counts. That’s the message the American Heart Association and cardiologists want to stress during national CPR week.

Statistics show that more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of the hospital each year and those first few minutes are crucial. They can mean the difference between life and death.

“We receive calls from people in the time of distress and we know from the stats and all the studies that minutes really are critical in a sudden cardiac arrest event," John Stuermer, the executive director of Hamilton County 911, said.

When sudden cardiac arrest occurs, blood flow is reduced to your brain and it leads to unconsciousness. If your heart rhythm doesn’t rapidly return to normal, brain damage occurs and it leads to death.

“I think there are like 13 million people that are trained every year in CPR and the reason it is so important is if you have that pre-arrival of the ambulance, the person’s chances of survival can be doubled or even quadrupled," Stuermer said.

Less than one-third of out of hospital sudden cardiac arrest cases receive bystander CPR and less than eight percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive.

“As a bystander or maybe even a loved one, we know that 70-80 percent of cardiac arrests happen at home," Dr. Maurice Alston, a cardiologist at Parkridge Medical Center, said.

Dr. Alston says lives are saved every day by bystanders and co-workers.

“If you initiate good quality CPR, activate emergency response system by calling 911, get your closest AED and actually defibrillate the patient," Dr. Alston said.

AEDs or automatic external defibrillators are becoming a lot more common in offices and public places.

“We recommend that everyone that is of age and that’s capable of performing CPR, they should go and gain that experience," Dr. Alston said.