SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Every second counts. It’s especially true when someone suffers cardiac arrest.
The first seven days of June are annually National CPR & AED Awareness Week.
“CPR is not hard, it’s not complicated, it’s just a super scary situation, and the faster you can recognize it, call 911, start pushing, and use an AED, that victim’s chance of survival increases dramatically,” EMS Education Jeremy Robertson said.
Jeremy Robertson is an EMS educator with Sioux Falls Fire Rescue.
“When somebody’s heart stops, they have 600 seconds to survive this event. That’s it, ten minutes, so when you start CPR the faster you start the greater your chance of survival, so for example if you start within a minute of their collapse, they basically have a 90% chance of survival,” Robertson said.
According to the American Red Cross, more than 1,600 people suffer cardiac arrest each day in the United States.
“In 2022, our survival rate of cardiac arrest in the city of Sioux Falls was 47.5%, where as the national average is about 20%,” Robertson said.
If you’re using an AED, Robertson says the unit will walk you through every step of the process. If you choose to take learning one step further, start with an app.
“We have the PulsePoint app, which is completely free, it’s through Sioux Falls Fire Rescue. People can download that on their phone and they can see where all the AEDs are at in town, it also has a tutorial on CPR,” Robertson said.
There’s also an in-person, hands-on class.
“We’ll teach anybody how to do CPR. We have a public CPR class on the third Tuesday of the month that’s open to anybody at 6:30 in the evening. Come on out, it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour, I show you how to do hands-only CPR and how to utilize an AED,” Robertson said.
An hour of learning that could save a life.
You can find a CPR class in the state of Iowa on the Red Cross website or by registering for a class with the local YMCA.