June 18, 2013
The DCRI hosted a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) awareness and training event at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Health Innovations Day on June 15. The museum’s goal was to educate the public about the effects of innovative health care on our everyday lives. With help from members of the DCRI and the RACE-CARS staff, more than 150 people were trained to perform hands-only CPR. In addition, 1000 people, including entire families, watched CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) demonstrations and answered cardiac arrest trivia questions.
The DCRI’s RACE CARS project is part of a large national initiative to improve survival from cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest survival in North Carolina is just 12 percent, and only 1 in 4 victims receive bystander CPR. The project’s goal is to reach as many North Carolinians as possible to:
- recognize the signs of cardiac arrest,
- call 9-1-1, and
- begin compression-only (‘hands-only’) CPR until medical help arrives.
If CPR isn’t started within 4 minutes, brain damage begins to occur, at 10 minutes without intervention, brain death is almost certain. Immediate bystander CPR will provide critical time-sensitive treatment for the victim until trained personnel arrive.
Participants at the event commented that this “new CPR” was easy to learn and that they were more likely to perform compression-only CPR rather than the more traditional combination of compression and mouth-to-mouth procedure. One young lady commented that her life was saved because a man near her knew how to adminster CPR and she felt like it was her responsibility to know how to provide someone the same lifesaving techniques that he used on her.
The event was organized by the DCRI’s Communications group and supported by volunteers from the DCRI’s RACE-CARS, CEE, Communications, and Outcomes groups.