Sudden cardiac arrest kills more than 400,000 people in the U.S. every year. Surprisingly, 9,000 of those are under the age of 18. Many of these deaths could have been prevented if those close by had been trained to perform a few simple lifesaving steps.
The 10th annual Project Heart Start (PHS) Day, a community-initiative designed to save lives and sponsored by Project Heart Start New Mexico, is set for Saturday, June 15. Project Heart Start is an annual event where community members can learn how to save a life at several locations around New Mexico including Albuquerque, Los Lunas and Rio Rancho.
The sessions will explain what to do if someone nearby experiences a sudden cardiac arrest including:
- How to assess the victim and perform the new and easy compression-only CPR
- How to recognize the symptoms of a heart attack and what to do
- How to use an automated external defibrillator (AED)
- How to save a choking victim
PHS locations
Albuquerque: North Domingo Baca Center – Wyoming and Paseo del Norte
Rio Rancho: Cabazon Community Center and Park
Los Lunas: Daniel Fernandez Recreation Center
Sessions will be held at 8, 9, 10, and 11 a.m. at each location.
An extension of UNM CPR project heart classes for the public and supported by UNM, HSC and UH, Project Heart Start is dedicated to training all able individuals to perform compression-only CPR (COCPR) and to encourage and facilitate the placement and utilization of automated external defibrillators (AED).
Non-certification PHS sessions last only about 40 minutes and are divided into watching a 12-minute video, produced by KOAT and Dr. Barry Ramo, followed by a 15-minute skill session led by a facilitator and a short demonstration of an AED.
For more details and other locations visit, www.projectheartstartnm.org.
