PAH Participates in CPR Hospital-initiated Training Project
According to the American Heart Association, cardiac arrest is the abrupt loss of heart function caused by the heart's electrical system malfunctioning. Each year about 295,000 emergency medical services-treated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States. And as many know from the loss of loved ones, cardiac arrest is one of our nation’s leading killers.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation – or CPR – is an easy-to-learn technique that can double a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival, but only if administered immediately and effectively. Sadly, less than one third of all aid out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims received CPR from a bystander. Why?
It seems several particular barriers prevent widespread CPR education dissemination to the public: the need for trained CPR-certified instructors to conduct a course and the cost and length of a course itself. In addition, many CPR training activities occur at the workplace or in a school among younger, healthier subjects. However, most sudden cardiac arrests occur in the home with spouses of similarly-aged family members.
To literally help improve the odds of survival for our patients once they leave our Hospital, PAH is participating in the CPR Hospital-Initiated Training Project along with seven other facilities in the region, including HUP and PPMC. "The goal of the Project is to use the hospital as a unique ‘point of capture’ to empower at-risk families with the life-saving tool of CPR,” said Audrey L. Blewer, MPH, project manager.
Through the Project, CPR training is offered on the cardiology and telemetry wards – including 6 Cathcart at PAH – where nurses and volunteers will in turn work with family members of patients with cardiovascular risk factors to learn the life-saving skill of CPR. Families with at-risk members will be sent home with an American Heart Association “CPR Anytime Kit” – a 25-minute program complete with a personal inflatable manikin and instructional DVDs. “This Anytime Kit overcomes many of the barriers to traditional CPR courses, such as timing and expense,” added Blewer, “and emphasizes hand-on-practice, allowing participants to gain confidence and be willing to share what they’ve learned with others.”
The Project is actually a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and lead by Principal Investigator, Benjamin Abella, MD, MPhil, of the Center for Resuscitation Science at HUP. In addition to teaching and empowering others within and outside of the hospital environment to save lives with CPR, the study will also follow-up with participants to track instruction retention, all in an effort to better refine training methods.
