Every day 15 Arizonans suffer from a cardiac arrest (their heart stops).  That’s 15 yesterday, today and tomorrow- adding up to more than 5,000 people in Arizona per year…  which is more the 5 times the number of folks that die in car crashes. 

Saving lives after a cardiac arrest requires several links in the “Chain of Survival” from: 1) Educating the public about how to recognize cardiac arrest and how to do the right CPR; 2) training 911 dispatchers to coach bystanders how to intervene; 3) placing Automatic External Defibrillators in public places and doing training; 4) training EMS personnel on best practices for cardiac arrest; 5) establishing and monitoring cardiac arrest receiving center hospitals; and 6) establishing bypass protocols for EMS to go to the nearest cardiac arrest receiving center; and 7) measuring everything so we can make mid-course corrections to improve efficiency.

We celebrated our some success this week when we announced the first participants in the Heart Safe program, which recognizes businesses and community groups for creating safer places for people to visit, work and worship.  To qualify the groups needed to have a plan in place to respond to a cardiac arrest including CPR action plans including a protocol for training and use of an Automated External Defibrillator.  Congratulations go out to the organizations that got awards Monday including Channel 3, SRP, ASU, Phoenix/Mesa Gateway Airport, La Casa de Christo Lutheran Church and the Arizona Supreme Court. 

Congrats to all and check out the event on Facebook.