NASHVILLE, TN — Do you know the two simple steps of Hands-Only TM CPR? Then you’re ready to help save a life. If you don’t, then the American Heart Association and WellPoint Foundation want you to listen up.
Hands-Only CPR has just two simple steps: 1) If you see a teen or adult suddenly collapse, call 9-1-1; and 2) Push hard and fast in the center of the chest at 100 beats per minute. As part of the third year of the national Hands-Only CPR campaign, the American Heart Association has debuted a new one-minute Hands-Only CPR demo video to train Americans in the life-saving technique. Eighty percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in private or residential settings, so the life you save with CPR will most likely be a loved one. Hands-Only CPR has been proven to be as effective as CPR with breaths, and people are more likely to feel comfortable performing it.
A December 2012 study published in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation, found that Hands-Only CPR performed by bystanders keeps more people alive with good brain function after experiencing a cardiac arrest. An additional study in Circulation showed that people feel more confident performing Hands-Only CPR after viewing as little as one minute of video training.
Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death with over 420,000 out-of-hospital cases occurring every year in the United States. When a teen or adult has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby. Survival rates drop as much as 10 percent for every minute that goes by without intervention.
With the support of the WellPoint Foundation, the American Heart Association launched a 3-year national campaign in June 2012 to raise awareness of Hands-Only CPR as a lifesaving method and to increase the likelihood of people performing CPR in an emergency.
To learn more about the Hands-Only CPR campaign and get ready to save a life, visit www.heart.org/handsonlycpr or facebook.com/AHACPR.
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases.
The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.
As part of our dedication to save lives, we are setting out to train all Americans in lifesaving Hands-Only CPR. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country.