Tag Archives: CPR/AED Awareness Week

Learn how to save a life during National CPR + AED Week

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The basketball referee crumbled to the floor of the court, lifeless. The game between the Glass City Wranglers of Toledo and the Jamestown Jackals of New York came to an abrupt halt, as players and spectators wondered what was wrong.

Myles Copeland did not wait.

Myles Copeland – Toledo Firefighter

Myles is a Toledo firefighter – and was playing with the Wranglers during his off hours when referee John Scully suffered cardiac arrest – something Myles was trained to treat. He immediately began CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, performing chest compressions while awaiting the arrival of emergency medical personnel, and that likely saved John’s life.

Myles Copeland won an Acts of Courage award from the American Red Cross of Western Lake Erie for his swift intervention, as did Lt. Jim Schulty, also with the Toledo Fire Department. Jim performed CPR on a fellow hockey player after his heart stopped beating and is also credited with saving a life.

These are just two examples of the value of knowing how to perform CPR, and there’s no better time to highlight these stores, as National CPR + AED Awareness week begins today. And while Myles and Jim are professional firefighters and have had on-the-job training, anyone can be trained to help save lives with CPR and an AED.

More than 350,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest annually, but only 9% survive.

Every second counts when responding to a cardiac arrest. If you see someone suddenly collapse, call 911, send someone for the AED and begin CPR. 

Nicole and Lindsey Bechter

That’s what Lindsey and Nicole Bechter did while they were serving as referees at a volleyball court in Cuyahoga Falls last summer. A player collapsed, and the sisters took turns performing CPR until the ambulance arrived.

Even if you aren’t trained, doing chest compressions (pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest) is better than doing nothing. It’s what Jim Kuhn did. The bus driver for the city of Wadsworth helped keep a passenger alive by pushing down on the man’s chest after he collapsed when trying to board the bus last November. For their lifesaving actions, Jim, Lindsey and Nicole received Acts of Courage awards from the Red Cross of Greater Akron and the Mahoning Valley.

Acts of Courage award winner Jim Kuhn, center, with board member Ryan Lang, left, and committee chair Tara Silva, right.

You can get trained by visiting redcross.org/take-a-class. At the very least, learn how to perform hands- only CPR.

Every second counts in cardiac arrest. If you see someone collapse without warning, know your  “Cardiac Arrest 1‐2‐3.”

  1. Call 9‐1‐1 and get the AED 
  2. Start CPR 
  3. Use an AED

CPRSavesLives

Edited and posted by Ryan Lang, Red Cross board member and volunteer

Who me? Learn AED during CPR AED Week 2022

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By Doug Bardwell, Red Cross volunteer

June 22, 2018. Washington, DC. CPR stock photos by Roy Cox for the American Red Cross.

Today, June 7th marks the end of National CPR and AED Awareness Week. What . . . you don’t even know what AED is? It stands for Automated External Defibrillator – more commonly seen as the paddles that doctors, nurses or paramedics use to resuscitate someone whose heart has stopped pumping. But you, too, could quickly learn to use them to save someone’s life.

As more businesses, recreation centers, swimming pools, movie theaters, etc., have AEDs available, wouldn’t it be great if you knew how to use them? Through American Red Cross-sponsored classes, you can, and in just one class.

I took a CPR and AED class at the Red Cross headquarters in downtown Cleveland last year, and it was a fun and easy refresher for the courses I had taken three years earlier. (They suggest every two years for refreshers — my bad.)

A series of related classes can be taken individually or combined, pertaining to your needs. Some people need certification for construction job site requirements, while others might need it for school, but there are class combinations for everyone. CPR and AED are ideally taken together.

Online-only classes can be found here, but I’d highly suggest combining online and in-person courses – referred to as blended learning. Visit redcross.org/take-a-class and then input your desired location and select CPR or AED. You’ll likely find over 100 choices of classes.

February 21-22, 2018. Washington, DC CPR Classroom Stock Video and Photography Shoot 2018 Photos by Dennis Drenner/American Red Cross

A recent CPR/AED student, Steve Riv explained it this way: “I was worried it would be more video instruction and not so much hands-on. I actually really ended up loving the video modules, followed by the in-class instruction. Our instructor was very articulate in explaining the CPR and AED procedures. And, yes, you do get to practice with a “dummy.” I think that the instructor made something that can be mundane an enjoyable and memorable experience.”

Read more here, and schedule that class. More than one person thought they would never need the training but ended up saving someone’s life. Next time, it could be YOU.

During cardiac arrest, every passing minute reduces chance of survival

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Consider taking a class this CPR and AED Awareness Week 

By Tim Poe, American Red Cross volunteer 

In the U.S., over 350,000 people suffer cardiac arrest outside of hospitals each year. Many of the roughly 10% who survive do so because someone performed CPR or used an automated external defibrillator (AED) within the first few minutes. Since the first week of June is National CPR and AED Awareness Week, we urge you to consider learning these lifesaving skills.   

CPR and AEDs are effective, especially when performed by a bystander before emergency medical personnel can arrive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that, if performed in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest, CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.  

Similarly, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that a bystander using an AED increased the likelihood of survival to 67% whereas waiting for EMS to shock the heart only had a 43% survival rate. The NIH also found survival with minimal disability is much greater when a bystander used an AED (57%, versus 33% when initiated by EMS). The NIH estimates 1,700 lives are saved in the U.S .each year by bystanders using an AED. 

I spoke with Philip Coffin, American Red Cross instructor manager for our region, who has over 35 years of experience, 20 of them with the Red Cross. Philip spoke of the importance of acting quickly during a cardiac arrest. He said responding within the first four minutes is critical, as the odds of survival dramatically decrease after that. Every minute you lose, he said, the lower your chances of making it back. 

Philip spoke especially highly of AED devices. As cardiac arrests are usually electric events, he said, it takes a shock to restart the heart, which an AED provides. In such cases, CPR keeps the brain alive until the shock can be administered.  

CPR/AED training is vitally important, then, and the Red Cross excels at providing it, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Philip said he is deeply proud of his team, who stuck it out, understood they were providing a mission-critical service, and continued training frontline workers. 

If interested, CPR, AED, and first aid training and certification courses are available. Many are tailored to the needs of workplace responders, professional rescuers, school staff, healthcare providers, and the public. Several courses are OSHA compliant. 

To ensure safety during the pandemic, some classes are in instructor-led classroom settings following health guidelines, while others offer a blend of online training with an in-class skills session. New, innovative ideas are also in development. 

Visit this link for more information on hands-only CPR, and click this link to take a CPR class. If you would like to take an AED class, please see here. If your organization would like to purchase an AED, please click here. The Red Cross also offers free apps. 

If you see someone collapse without warning, take these steps:  

  1. Call 9-1-1  
  2. Start CPR  
  3. Use an AED 

Edited by Glenda Bogar, American Red Cross volunteer