Almost 150 residents turned out at free CPR education events held throughout the region on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
Tanner Health System and Tanner Heart Care hosted the CPR events in Carrollton, Villa Rica, Bremen and Wedowee. The “Will You Be My Lifesaver?” participants learned the fundamentals to save a life using “hands-only” CPR.
This was the first time Tanner hosted simultaneous events in all four communities where the health system has hospitals.
“We’ve offered free ‘hands-only’ CPR training before, but we wanted to do something bold to reach as many people as we could,” said
Chelif Junor, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist with
Tanner Heart & Vascular Specialists who helped lead the CPR instruction. “The odds of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest are much higher in communities where CPR education is widely available. That’s what we’re trying to do in west Georgia and east Alabama — give all of our loved ones their best opportunity at surviving a cardiac event should they experience one.”
CPR — or cardiopulmonary resuscitation — is used to keep a heart pumping in instances of sudden cardiac arrest, when the heart abruptly stops.
Cardiac arrest can be caused by electrolyte imbalances, electrical shock, extreme stress to the body, a severe lack of oxygen — such as after drowning or asphyxiation — as well as cardiac rhythm disturbances, structural heart disease and more.
Effective CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest triples a person’s chances of survival.
Unfortunately, only 32% of people who experience sudden cardiac arrest receive CPR — whether from a friend, loved one or stranger. That’s why fewer than 10% of people who experience sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive.
“The vast majority of sudden cardiac arrest occurs in the home,” said Dr. Junor. “That’s what makes these events so special — because odds are, these skills will be used to save the life of someone you love.”
The events drew 75 participants to Carrollton, 31 to Villa Rica, 20 to Bremen and 21 to Wedowee.
In addition to 24-hour emergency departments at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica, Higgins General Hospital in Bremen and Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama in Wedowee, Tanner also offers accredited chest pain centers and interventional cardiac services — featuring angioplasty and stenting — in Carrollton and Villa Rica.
The health system also recently announced that it had received state approval to launch an open-heart surgery program in Carrollton.