WHY LEARN HANDS-ONLY CPR?

Cardiac arrest – an electrical malfunction in the heart that causes an irregular heartbeat(arrythmia) and disrupts the flow of blood to the brain, lungs, and other organs – is a leading cause of death. Each year, over 326,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States.

 When a person has a cardiac arrest, survival de-pends on immediately getting CPR from someone nearby.

 According to the American Heart Association, 90 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardi-ac arrests die. CPR, especially if performed immedi-ately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.

 Most Americans (70 percent) feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency because they don’t know how to administer CPR or they’re afraid of hurting the victim.

If you are called on to give CPR in an emergency, you will most likely be trying to save the life of someone you love: a child, a spouse, a parent or a friend.

 70 percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests hap-pen in homes and residential settings

 Unfortunately, only about 39% of people who expe-rience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest get the im-mediate help that they need before professional help arrives.

 Hands-Only CPR has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest at home, at work, or in public. It can double or even triple a vic-tim’s chance of survival.

*From American Heart Association 2015 Hands-Only(TM) Fact Sheet