Do you have business with the County?
Will you be splashing around at the Waterfront Park?
If either brings you to the County Administration Center on Monday, Sept. 21, you can do another activity that could help save lives: learn how to do hands-only CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
Free 15-minute trainings are being sponsored by the San Diego chapter of the American Heart Association, which is also becoming a Live Well San Diego partner, and Anthem Blue Cross. They will take place at Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is open to the general public and County employees.
“I encourage everyone to get hands-only CPR training,” said County Supervisor Ron Roberts, who will provide welcome remarks. “It only takes a few minutes to learn but can make the difference in a life-or-death situation.”
There will be five sessions with room for 50 people each. You can register here for the trainings, and if you also download the PulsePoint app and register, you could win a $100 Amazon gift card. PulsePoint is a new smartphone application that notifies people trained on CPR when their help is needed.
Learning how to do hands-only CPR is super easy. All you have 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.
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.
“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.
