Go Red for Women recommends everyone learn CPR
By Audrey Starr, Executive Director, American Heart Association Dayton
Be the Beat. That’s the theme for this year’s Go Red for Women Campaign.
Cardiac arrest claims more lives than breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, influenza, pneumonia, car accidents, HIV, firearms and house fires combined.
Ninety percent of people who experience cardiac arrests outside of a hospital will die—that’s a sobering statistic, but there is power in prevention, and there’s something you can do.
CPR works. If performed immediately, CPR can double or even triple a person’s chance of survival. Nearly three out of four cardiac arrests that happen outside of hospitals happen at home. That means you could be the first responder for your loved one.
It’s also why the American Heart Association is challenging every household to have someone who knows CPR to Be the Beat for their family, friends and community.
Right now, about 46% of people who suffer from cardiac arrest receive CPR from a bystander, but that number is significantly lower for women or people of color. This is partly because people fear accusations of inappropriate touching, sexual assault or injuring the person. However, we know that CPR is often a cardiac arrest patient’s only chance at survival.
By equipping people with Hands-Only CPR training, we want to change those statistics by making more people comfortable performing CPR. Hands-Only CPR is a simple and easy technique that can restart a heart and keep blood moving through the body.
It’s as easy as two steps:
1. Call 9-1-1.
2. Press hard and fast in the center of the chest.
Use a familiar song to help you keep up the pace for 100-120 beats per minute. Songs like “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees are familiar and keep you on track.
By learning CPR today, you can save the life of someone you love. Help us create a safer and healthier community by committing to learning CPR. You can watch a how-to video online, find local training courses at cpr.heart.org, or visit the University of Dayton RecPlex or Wright State University Student Union to learn and practice on a realistic mannikin at one of our Hands-Only CPR kiosks.
Together, we can create a new rhythm for longer, healthier lives for all. Be the Beat with us.
Audrey Starr serves as the executive director for the American Heart Association in Dayton. Starr oversees the fundraising and community engagement initiatives that create longer, healthier lives for all Daytonians. Starr has more than 15 years of communications, fundraising and leadership experience. Her career has focused in nonprofit work, higher education and social justice.
