Working with health advocates across the nation, the American Heart Association (AHA) 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. The AHA says, push to the beat of "Stayin' Alive," and you could save a life.
Did you know about 70 percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in homes? If you are called on to give CPR in an emergency, you will most likely be trying to save the life of someone you love. Be the difference for your parent, spouse, or child. What if it were them?
For more information and to learn how to perform Hands-OnlyTM CPR, visit the American Heart Association's CPR & AED Awareness Week website.
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