The 3 letters that save live: Local woman teaching CPR within her community

The 3 letters that save live: Local woman teaching CPR within her community
Black and Hispanic adults are less likely to receive bystander CPR than their white peers. A local instructor wants to change the odds of survival with lessons in compressions.

Annitra Taylor is an American Heart Association-certified instructor — and a local.

“I’ve been living in Chatham since 1969,” she said.

She’s now canvassing her community and teaching the simple skill free of charge at parks she once played in as a child.

“Being a bystander, it’s important to me because doing CPR can make the difference in saving someone’s life,” she said.

According to a recent American Heart Association study, if their hearts stopped at home, Black and Hispanic adults were 26% less likely to receive CPR than white people. If the cardiac arrest occurred in public, they were 41% less likely to receive the potentially life-saving intervention.

“If we can get the hesitancy out, we can make sure that a person will get the help they need when they need it,” Taylor said.

Taylor and her fellow instructors have had a steady flow of students.

They teach all ages. Anyone who is interested just needs to walk up.

“If they feel confident when they leave the table, that it’s not as complicated, then they will be more apt to help an individual,” Taylor said.