In recognition of National CPR Week, the American Heart Association (AHA) is collaborating with the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency to coordinate a countywide effort to teach the public how to perform hands only CPR.
Emergency healthcare providers, such as fire departments, ambulance companies, hospitals and education programs will be going out into the community to teach residents how to save a life with CPR. This service is free to the public and will be held in various locations across Southern California, including Santa Monica with the goal of increasing the number of lifesavers in the community.
The Santa Monica Fire Department will join these efforts for the third year and host free Hands-Only CPR training in Center Plaza at the Santa Monica Place, 395 Santa Monica Place on June 5, from 12:00 p.m. through 4:00 p.m.
CPR instructors will be on hand to demonstrate the basics and proper techniques of Hands-Only CPR, and participants will have the opportunity to practice on mannequins. The training will not result in CPR certification, but information on how you can get certified will be available.
Anyone can learn CPR – and the American Heart Assoc. believes that everyone should. About 70 percent of Americans might feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency because they either do not know how to administer CPR or their training has significantly lapsed. This statistic could hit close to home, because home is exactly where 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur.
By using Hands-Only CPR, bystanders can still act to improve the odds of survival, whether they are trained in conventional CPR or not.
