YFD surpasses goal of training 10,000 people in hands-only CPR
The City of Yuma Fire Department reached a milestone last month, training more than 10,000 area residents in the use of hands-only CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
According to spokesperson Mike Erfert, in 2009 the fire department began training people in this critical treatment for cardiac arrest and surpassed their goal for people trained in September.
Although the fire department could not specify a particular person being the 10,000th person trained, Erfert said they do know it took place on September 15th during classes at Gila Vista Jr. High School.
Nearly 300 Gila Vista students took part in the six classes given that day during by Erfert in the physical education periods.
“YFD appreciates Gila Vista allowing us the opportunity to pass on this lifesaving information,” Erfert said
According to the American Red Cross, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur each year in the U.S. A person in cardiac arrest has a greatly reduced chance of survival unless a bystander takes immediate action until the paramedics arrive.
The heart has stopped pumping blood through their body and that circulation is essential to sustain life.
The University of Arizona’s Sarver Heart Cen- ter (where the compression-only method was pioneered) says that for every minute a person in cardiac arrest is not getting CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) their chance of survival drops by 10 percent.
Compression-only CPR is easy to learn and easy to use. It also does not involve mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing. Studies have shown this method is not only more likely to be used, but also is more effective than traditional CPR.
For more information about compression-only CPR classes or other fire and injury prevention classes offered by YFD, contact its public information office at 373-4855.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 5396854. Find him on Facebook at www. Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.