May 29-June 2: CPR and AED Awareness Week

On Dec. 13, 2007, Congress unanimously passed a resolution to create National Cardiopulmonary (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week. This observance occurs the first week of June each year to increase public knowledge of the use of CPR and AEDs. Working with health advocates across the nation, the American Heart Association has made significant strides strengthening the Chain of Survival: Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland and Oregon all have successfully enacted legislation that eased liability concerns for businesses and organizations that place AEDs in their facilities. Iowa and Wisconsin now require that high school students be offered hands-on CPR training.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 295,000 occurrences of out-of-hospital SCA per year, with only an 8 percent survival rate. It can be successfully treated in many victims by a time electrical shock using an AED, but time is critical. Using AEDs helps save lives because they can help restore normal heart rhythm before emergency personnel arrive. Communities with comprehensive AED programs have achieved survival rates of 40 percent or higher. It may not always be possible to have access to an AED. It is the American Heart Association's belief that everyone should know how to perform CPR in an emergency. Immediate, effective CPR could more than double a victim's chance of survival. Those administering CPR should push on the chest at a rate of at least 100 beats per minute.