Ventura County Emergency Medical Services to teach Hands-Only CPR

Through June 8, Ventura County Emergency Medical Services (VCEMS) will partner with the American Heart Association (AHA) and other emergency service providers to host free Hands-Only Sidewalk CPR trainings at several locations throughout Ventura County.

CPR instructors will demonstrate the Hands-Only CPR technique in public places with the goal being to teach more people how to respond appropriately if they witness someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn the simple two-step technique, practice on mannequins and receive information on where they can go if they want to become fully CPR certified.

Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time. Nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur in the U.S. each year and only 32 percent of the victims receive CPR from a layperson. Failure to act in a cardiac emergency can result in unnecessary death. By using CPR techniques immediately, the person suffering from cardiac arrest has a much higher chance of survival. An ambulance should be called right away also so that they can bring an Automated external defibrillator to the scene and help save someone’s life. Less than eight percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive, but when an effective bystander immediately administers CPR, the chance of survival more than doubles.

Introduced by the AMA in 2010, Hands-Only CPR does not require alternating chest compressions with mouth- to-mouth breathing and is intended for bystanders untrained in traditional CPR.

For more information about the free Hands-Only CPR trainings, contact VCEMS at (805) 981-5301, go to www.vchca.org/ems, or visit: http://handsonlycpr.org/.

Ventura County Govt. Ctr., Main Court Yard Plaza 800 S. Victoria Ave. June 7 and June 8,

9:00-1:30