Firefighters show citizens how to do CPR to the right beat

FALLBROOK – North County Fire Protection District conducted free "Sidewalk CPR Day" training on June 4 along with the County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) and about a dozen organizations around the county.

Trained professionals taught individuals to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to the beat of the Bee Gees "Stayin’ Alive."

Fallbrook's two locations were Major Market and Albertson's. The goal was to train 4,000 people to perform hands-only CPR on adults as part of National CPR and AED Awareness Week.

"A person who collapses from cardiac arrest is more likely to survive if CPR is administered immediately by someone nearby," said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. "Unfortunately, only about 39 percent of people who suffer a heart attack at home, work or in public receives CPR from a bystander before professional help arrives."

Learning how to do hands-only CPR is easy. All a bystander has to do is administer chest compressions with both hands to the beat of "Stayin’ Alive" until help arrives. That’s about 100 compressions per minute.

"I encourage everyone to get hands-only CPR training," said County Supervisor Ron Roberts. "It only takes a few minutes to learn but can make the difference in a life-or-death situation."

CPR used to include giving mouth-to-mouth breathing in combination with pushing down hard and fast on someone’s chest. However, the American Heart Association simplified the procedure to make it much easier for people to learn and now just recommends doing hands-only CPR.

A video demonstration of Hands-Only CPR can be viewed at www.countynewscenter.com/video/news?v=128629.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 326,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually, and 90 percent of them die.

The annual "Sidewalk CPR Day" is part of the County’s Live Well San Diego initiative, which aims to improve the health and safety of local residents.

The event is organized by the HHSA, the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, San Diego Project Heart Beat and several other agencies. In 2014, over 3,100 people were trained to do hands-only CPR during "Sidewalk CPR Day."

If someone already knows CPR, health officials urge them to download the PulsePoint, a new smartphone application which lets people trained in CPR know when their help is needed, at www.pulsepoint.org.