In honor of National CPR Week, the American Heart Association (AHA) is
collaborating with the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency
to coordinate a county-wide CPR program. 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 Los Angeles
County, with the goal of increasing the number of lifesavers in the community.
Torrance Memorial Medical Center will join these efforts and host free
Hands-Only CPR training for the community on its campus at 3330 Lomita
Blvd in Torrance. The trainings will take place just outside its two cafeterias,
Jared's Café (located on the second floor of its Main Patient
Tower) and Helena's Café (located on the second floor of the
West Tower), on June 4 from 9 a.m. to noon. No RSVP is necessary. Parking
is available on the hospital campus in the Main Parking Structure, located
on Hospital and Technology Drive, and in the West Parking Structure, located
on Medical Center Drive. 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.
Cardiac arrests are more common than you think, and they can happen to
anyone at any time. Nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests
occur annually and only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from
a bystander. Failure to act in a cardiac emergency can lead to unnecessary
deaths. In fact, less than 8 percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest
outside the hospital survive. On the other hand, effective bystander CPR
provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple
a victim's chance of survival.
Anyone can learn CPR – and the American Heart Association believes
that everyone should. Sadly, 70 percent of Americans may 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 alarming
statistic could hit close to home, because home is exactly where 80 percent
of cardiac arrests occur. Put very simply: The life you save with CPR
is mostly likely to be someone you love.
By using Hands-Only CPR, bystanders can still act to improve the odds of
survival, whether they are trained in conventional CPR or not. Don't
be a bystander in a cardiac emergency. For more information about the
free Hands-Only CPR training, contact Cheryl Osborne at 310-784-4873.