Please Read to the End
You’ve just gotta love the sights and sounds of children at play, and if last year’s Family Fun Night during Canaan Railroad Days was any indication, many will descend on Canaan’s Lawrence Field on Thursday , July 25th to enjoy dozens of kid-centric amusements. There will be hula hooping, slack-lining, hay maze, obstacle course, Frisbee, ring and bean bag tosses, food…
But, also like last year, one activity will be conspicuously quiet – unless we can do something about it.
Fairview Hospital will again host its Bystander CPR training program. CPR Lite, as I like to call it, is a shortened version of the three hour CPR course that only takes five minutes to learn- that’s right, just five minutes. In the time it takes to order a hot dog, pay for and eat it, you can learn a skill that could save a life.
Bystander CPR is a hands-only technique (no mouth-to-mouth nastiness involved). You will learn chest compressions to the beat of the Bee Gees 1977 hit Stayin’ Alive. Fun, right?
The American Heart Association tells us that 350,000 of us will suffer cardiac arrest this year. If only 100 people learn this technique and then go about their lives, chances are that someday, somewhere, one of them is going to have a chance to help save someone’s life.
So this is what we are going to do to help – for every person up to 100 who visits the Bystander CPR tent on the 25th and learns this life-saving skill, sportingAcause.com will donate $5 to the North Canaan Ambulance Corp.
Last year two eager EMT’s and a practice dummy waited for someone , anyone to stop by and learn their life-saving lesson. Few did. Let’s change that this year.
For a two-hour time span on a warm summer night, you can entertain your kids, have a hot dog, trigger a donation to a worthy local cause and learn how to save a life.
Time well spent I’d say.
CPR doesn’t have to be perfect to be lifesaving!
It’s time to repeat this life-saving message. If you are organizing an event this year, consider inviting the good folks from Fairview to teach your guests CPR Lite!
“CPR doesn’t have to be perfect to be lifesaving!”
That’s the message that the good folks at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, MA. want us all to understand. Studies are showing that bystanders often don’t take any action to help someone who has stopped breathing because they haven’t had CPR training, and they are afraid they will screw up. And that is where Bystander CPR comes in. It is not the full CPR program- call it CPR Lite- but learning it can keep someone alive until the ambulance arrives.
Fairview’s CPR Plus Program will send Bystander CPR Coaches to gatherings to teach the truncated version to large groups of people. And it is free. It only takes three to five minutes to learn. The program brochure reads :
“Begin chest compressions at 100 times per minute over the center of the breastbone. If you compress to the Bee Gee’s 1977 hit song ‘Staying Alive’ you’ll be doing it right.”
” While Bystander CPR is not as comprehensive as the full -fledged CPR program, it is a way to get people to take some action, which can have an impact on the outcome.” according to Fairview spokesperson Lauren Smith. ” We have also found that doing these mini-programs in a fairly informal way makes more people willing to approach it. Overall, raising the level of awareness will also lead to more people learning CPR, extending the rural emergency network.”
Fairview is looking for groups of people to pass along this life-saving technique . Got a 5k or golf tournament coming up? Or a cocktail party? If your event is within the Tri-State area call them to arrange a visit from their Bystander CPR Coaches. Call Lauren (413) 854-9611.
