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Heart Safe Communities provides AEDs, CPR trainingIn an ongoing commitment to safeguarding community health, the New Ulm Medical Center is reaching beyond the walls of its facility in an initiative called Heart Safe Communities. The initiative includes two goals: placing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in multiple locations throughout the area and teaching half the community CPR by the year 2011. Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, striking more than 450,000 people a year. The most effective treatment for sudden cardiac arrest is an electric shock to the heart, called defibrillation. This “shock” is administered by an AED. As part of the Heart Safe Communities program, the New Ulm Medical Center Foundation raised funds to place AEDs in the New Ulm area. These donations were received from individuals, service clubs, youth associations, the Minnesota Vikings and employees and physicians of the New Ulm Medical Center. Through this initiative, nonprofit organizations and public government buildings will be given an opportunity to purchase an AED at half-price. In all, 60 AEDs have been placed in New Ulm and surrounding communities both in public buildings and businesses. Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is usually caused by an electrical malfunction of the heart called ventricular fibrillation (VF) – an ineffective quivering of the heart muscle that makes it unable to pump blood through the body. Once the blood stops circulating, a person quickly loses consciousness and the ability to breathe and will die without effective treatment. Defibrillation is most effective when applied within three to five minutes of the onset of sudden cardiac arrest. The success of resuscitation drops about 10 percent with each passing minute. After 10 minutes in cardiac arrest, a person’s chance of survival is only about 2 percent. After great success with the first phase of the Heart Safe Communities program and the placement of AEDs slowed to a trickle, NUMC partnered with the American Red Cross and various independent CPR instructors across the area to begin phase two of the program: teaching half the community (or about 5,000 people) CPR by the year 2011. “CPR is an important part of what the American Heart Association calls the ‘Chain of Survival’,” explained Lori Burkhart, RN, Heart Safe Communities coordinator. The “Chain” includes early access (by calling 911), early CPR, early defibrillation (using the AED) and early advanced care (by local paramedics or emergency medical technicians). “That’s why this next phase is just as important as the placement of AEDs in the area.” Burkhart pointed out that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, which prompted the CPR goal to become a priority. “We want everyone possible to learn CPR because statistics show that 60 to 70 percent of people who perform CPR do so on a loved one or family member,” Burkhart said. The statistics become more astonishing from there: a person’s chances of survival drops 10 percent with every minute that passes without CPR after a person has experienced sudden cardiac arrest. The New Ulm Medical Center Foundation has received two grants to help fund the implementation of this program, according to Foundation Manager Carisa Buegler. Medtronic awarded NUMC a $12,000 grant and Channing Bete awarded a $2,000 grant. The facility has also raised $3,500 in donations from its employees to support the CPR training goal. One objective of the program is to distribute at least 300 CPR Anytime kits throughout the community. “The primary goal is to get these kits into the hands of people who are less likely to attend a mass CPR training but more likely to need to use CPR in their own home,” said Deb Hertling, NUMC educator and Community CPR Coordinator. The CPR Anytime kits include a blow-up mannequin, a booklet and an instructional DVD that takes 20 minutes to complete. The CPR training provided on the DVD is appropriate for anyone, including youngsters, Burkhart said. “Our goal is to distribute these kits with the expectation that every person who receives the kit will train four additional people,” Hertling said. The kits also include face shields so that the mannequin is reusable in an appropriately sanitary fashion. “One of the things that we especially like about the CPR Anytime kit is that a family gets to keep the kit and can repeat the training as often as they would like,” Burkhart added. All community members are encouraged to take part in the CPR initiative. The New Ulm Medical Center has CPR Anytime Kits available as well as a CPR “lending library” with equipment to train large groups of people. To check mannequins out of the Lending Library or to find out about CPR certification classes, call the NUMC Community Events line: 233-1990, option 1. (For business AED/CPR placement and training, select option 4.) You are invited to join New Ulm Medical Center for this important project through a philanthropic gift. .  Back to Foundation |
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New Ulm Medical Center
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