June is National CPR & AED Awareness Month and Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services (HCDFRS) would like to encourage residents to learn the life-saving skills of Hands-Only CPR and AED use.
HCDFRS will hold their annual CPR Pump-a-thon this Sunday, June 7, beginning at 1pm during “Family Wellness Day” hosted by We Promote Health, Get Active Howard County located at Centennial Park. The CPR Team will also be traveling to several government buildings throughout the month to train county employees.
“Learning CPR and how to use an AED are two relatively simple ways to improve the safety and health of our community,” said County Executive Allan H. Kittleman. “I would like to challenge every resident to attend a class or event and learn these essential, potentially life-saving skills.”
CPR, or Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, is the effort to manually safeguard brain function by producing artificial circulation via pumping blood through the heart on a cardiac arrest victim. The combination of this measure with the early use of an AED, or Automatic External Defibrillator, provides the best chance of survival for a cardiac arrest victim.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in Howard County and it can happen to anyone at any time. According to the American Heart Association, more than 326,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the United States. With every minute that passes during a sudden cardiac arrest, survival chances decrease significantly. Bystander CPR is vital until first responders arrive on scene. Hands-Only CPR is a fast and easy-to-learn method that does not require mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and makes it easier to learn to save lives.
“If you witness a sudden collapse, call 911 and start CPR immediately,” said Fire Chief John Butler. “CPR is now simpler than ever to learn, just compress the chest fast and hard until emergency personnel arrive and take over. This increases the chance that the patient will respond to treatment. Please take the short time it takes to learn Hands-Only CPR – you can save a life.”
The Department has also initiated a #FiveFiveAlive Challenge that encourages CPR trainees to snap a photo and use the hashtag on their social media channels.
HCDFRS hosts Hands-Only CPR and AED classes throughout the year that are open to the public. There are opportunities available for business trainings as well. For more information or to sign-up for a class, please visitwww.HCDFRS.orgor call 410-313-2016.
