Be athe Beat

American Heart Month 2023:

Last year, the American Heart Association encouraged women to “Reclaim Your Rhythm” with the Go Red for Women Movement because for so many, living through a global pandemic, derailed healthy habits and moved wellness goals to the bottom of the never-ending to-do list.

As Americans continue to settle into our next normal, the Association is now asking women to keep the rhythm going and “Be the Beat. Turn up the tempo, add a new step or set a new goal. Small actions build up to big change over time.

For American Heart Month this year, the American Heart Association is rallying everyone in February to: Save A Life. Learn CPR. Why? Because losing even one life is too many.

Every year, 350,000 people die from cardiac arrest in the United States. It’s a big number, with an even bigger opportunity. By making sure at least one person in every household or family learns hands-only CPR, the Association can bring that number down to zero. If called on to do CPR, you will likely be saving the life of someone you love: a spouse, a parent or a friend.

But reaching every home and family is not always easy, said Deven Daehn, executive director of the American Heart Association-Northwest Arkansas.

“In the United States, Hispanic/Latino and Black people are at a higher risk for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with a poor prognosis due to longstanding structural racism and social policies that have limited access to quality education and health care,” Daehn said. “Although there’s been tremendous improvement in CPR and first-responder defibrillation, survival rates for women haven’t improved significantly, especially for Hispanic/Latina and Black women.

In addition, studies show bystander CPR is less common in Hispanic/Latino and Black neighborhoods. Only 39% of women received CPR from bystanders in public compared to 49% of men.

Women are less likely to receive Hands-Only CPR because people fear accusations of inappropriate touching, sexual assault or injuring the person. However, the Good Samaritan Law protects people who perform CPR during cardiac arrest, so bystanders should feel confident performing it to try and save a life.

Some other startling statistics regarding CPR: According to the American Heart Association, about 90% of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.

16% of those surveyed have not been trained in CPR. Unfortunately, bystanders will only perform CPR 46% of the time.

The two simple steps of Hands-Only CPR are: if a bystander sees a teen or adult collapse, he or she should first call 9-1-1. Then push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of “Stayin’ Alive,” which has 100 beats per minute (bpm). The Bee Gees’ song has the minimum rate you should push on the chest during Hands-Only CPR. (A playlist with other popular songs with the same number of bpm can be found on Spotify under “Hands-Only CPR’s ‘Keep the Beat’ 100 BPM Playlist.”)

To learn more about the Hands-Only CPR campaign and learn how to save a life, visit www.heart.org/handsonlycpr or call the American Heart Association-Fayetteville at 479-4396800.