Heart Safe


    

 
Rotary's Heart Safe offers free CPR training this fall and winter
 
Heart Safe is a partnership spearheaded by the Plymouth Rotary Club.  Plymouth's Public Safety Department partners with the Plymouth Rotary Club to offer free, CPR/AED training to the public.
 
The training sessions are open to teenagers and adults who are interested in learning how to help save lives.  Participants may register for one of the following training dates to learn hands-only CPR – chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth breaths – and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
 
The sessions are typically from 7.00 - 8:15PM on Thursdays on the second floor of the Plymouth Public Safety Building, which is located at 3400 Plymouth Blvd.  Class sizes are limited to 25 participants. To register, visit heartsafeplymouth.eventbrite.com.  Watch for the latest information on our Plymouth Rotary Club website.
 
Heart Safe Background:

More than 8,000 participants have been trained through Heart Safe.  Plymouth was designated a Heart Safe Community in 2013 by the American Heart Association.  The program recognizes efforts to improve systems for preventing deaths caused by sudden cardiac arrest.
 
To schedule a free training session for a group or business, call 763-772-7671 or email heartsafeplymouth@gmail.com. For more information about the Rotary Club of Plymouth, visit rotaryplymouth.org.
 
 

Click here to see us in action, courtesy of CCX Media/News 12 

 

The goal is to make the community a safer place to live, work, and play by:

  • Educating and training on the emergency treatment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) by providing CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training to individuals and organizations in the community.

  • Encouraging and assisting with the acquisition of AEDs so our community has more of them readily available if needed.

  • Get AEDs in the community listed on the National AED Registry so their location is available to 911 operators.

Cardiac Arrest, also known as sudden cardiac arrest or SCA, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively.  A cardiac arrest is different from (but may be caused by) a heart attack, where blood flow to the muscle of the heart is impaired.

Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency that, in certain situations, is potentially reversible if treated early.  The treatment for cardiac arrest is cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to provide circulatory support, followed by defibrillation if a shock-able rhythm is present.

Since 2008, the American Heart Association recommends the use of Hands-Only CPR for teens and adults who suddenly collapse in an "out-of-hospital" setting (such as at home, work or, in a park).  Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths.  It consists of two easy steps:

  1. Call 9-1-1 (or ask someone to make that call).

  2. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest.

Conventional CPR is still recommended for:

  1. Unresponsive infants and children.

  2. Anyone who is found already unconscious and not breathing normally.

  3. Victims of drowning, drug overdose, or collapse due to breathing problems.

 

Automated External Defibrillator (AED):

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, whereby allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm.