More Americans die annually from sudden cardiac arrest than breast and lung cancer, stroke and AIDS combined. Increasing bystander medical awareness and training to aid individuals who experience sudden cardiac arrest is the impetus for the Lucky Hearts Campaign.
A partnership between MEDIC and the Mecklenburg Medical Alliance and Endowment, the Lucky Hearts Campaign comes to UNC Charlotte for a mass CPR training event scheduled for 2 to 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 3, in the Barnhardt Student Activity Center Salons. The University’s Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Office is cosponsoring this on-campus training.
“It is the University’s commitment to providing a safe and healthy working, teaching and learning environment, which has prompted us to collaborate with MEDIC on the CPR mass training initiative,” explained Darius Griffin, director of environmental health and safety at UNC Charlotte. “This is a great opportunity to communicate a message of community involvement while providing a skill set that may save a life.”
According to MEDIC officials, the goal for the on-campus event is to train more than 200 individuals about CPR awareness and the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED). In Mecklenburg County, MEDIC seeks to train at least 10,000 people in CPR/AED awareness. The CPR training is "hands only," which is without rescue breaths.
Training takes roughly 25 minutes, and it will be conducted in groups at the beginning of each hour. Participants will receive mini-CPR aid kits upon training completion.
“We believe in creating an atmosphere of safety and health awareness through training as well as employee and student involvement,” added Griffin. “I have a desire for everyone on campus to be informed and engaged to ensure the safety of themselves as well as others.”
Experts note that cardiac arrest can occur for many reasons, but the effect is the same. Once the heart stops beating, the brain begins to die within four to six minutes due to lack of oxygen. MEDIC officials stated that many sudden cardiac arrest cases happen in places where large groups gather, such as schools and athletics events, and that every minute proper CPR is delayed – sometimes referred to as “empty minutes” – a victim’s chance of survival decreases by 10 percent.
Nearly 40 percent of bystanders are capable and willing to perform CPR when they see an individual in cardiac arrest, according to MEDIC surveys. Officials stated that the Lucky Hearts Campaign is an effort to increase bystander action. October is an appropriate time to hold the training event as it is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness month.
More information about the Lucky Hearts Campaign and CPR training is on the MEDIC website.