Emergency service workers are hoping to give local residents a helping hand.
Every Wednesday in August, San Benito County Emergency Medical Services will offer training on how to do “Hands Only CPR.” The free training will be offered at the EMS booth by representatives of American Medical Response and Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, with more potential partners signing on.
“August was a fortunate time when we could make it work for all of us,” said Marcie Morrow, the Emergency Medical Services coordinator. “And we were excited to see there are five Wednesdays in August.”
Ashley Fellows and Leslie Simmons, of AMR, along with Karen O’Connell, the paramedic liaison for Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, spent the first afternoon at the market Wednesday. They demonstrated the technique of hands-only CPR and handed out informational cards to residents.
The “Hands Only CPR” technique is touted by the American Heart Association as the best way to increase survival rates for teens and adults suffering a cardiac arrest until emergency services arrive on the scene.
“The hands-only compressions are all that’s needed in the initial phase,” Morrow said.
Simmons and Fellows both stressed how important it can be for bystanders to perform CPR until emergency services can arrive on the scene.
“People worry about doing it wrong, but it’s really easy and if they do not have a heartbeat, something is better than nothing,” Simmons said.
They had CPR dummies set up on a table to demonstrate the technique and then to allow residents to practice, as well as one dummy set up on the floor with pads on each side on which residents could kneel.
“It’s actually easier to do on the floor,” Simmons said, of the situation that residents will most likely face if someone they know stops breathing.
The two helped a few people who came up at a time, first demonstrating how to do the compressions on a CPR dummy. They showed a resident how to straighten its arms, lock its elbows and lean forward with the whole body, rather than using just arms.
A video at the American Heart Association website shows viewers how to do the compressions and explains that they need to be done at a speed of 100 compressions per minute, or as fast as the beat to the song “Staying Alive.”
Simmons and Fellows used a clock that ticked off at the right speed to demonstrate the pace needed for the compressions.
“A lot of people have been hesitant to start because they don’t want to do mouth-to-mouth on some unknown person,” Morrow said. “Scientific research has found if the compressions are started immediately, that oxygen will keep the vital organs going.”
Fellows said they have a mix of situations when they arrive on scene, split between someone who has started CPR and others who have not.
“When it is family or someone they know” Fellows said people are more likely to start CPR. “We want to educate them so if it does happen, they know what to do.”
Simmons said 911 dispatchers can also often guide people through the steps to perform the compressions.
“It’s not nearly as complicated,” Simmons said. “It’s very simple. Once people realize how easy it is, they get over the nervousness and there is less hesitation when they actually need it.”
Morrow said since the change to hands-only CPR started, the San Benito Emergency Medical Services has worked with emergency personnel to create a “pit crew” response when they arrive on scene.
“It’s similar to what they do at NASCAR,” Morrow said. “Each person goes in with a specific responsibility and job. Since that implementation, five out of six cardiac arrests survive with full function. But it really boils down to a bystander starting CPR.”
Simmons said the change to the pit crew concept allows the paramedics to make sure CPR compressions are established properly before they move to higher-level treatments.
“We want people to know there is a higher survival rate” when they start CPR, O’Connell said. “It is designed to help people feel able to jump right in and make a difference.”
Visit www.heart.org to watch the American Heart Association video or call Morrow at 636-4066 for more information on CPR training.
