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What to know to promote a healthy heart for Heart Month
American Heart Association’s focus is on CPR
CEDAR RAPIDS — The American Heart Association — a leading health nonprofit that aims to help people live longer, healthier lives — encourages all area families to learn CPR to save lives during February, which is American Heart Month.
More than 350,000 people experience cardiac arrests outside of a hospital, including 23,000 children, according to a news release by the association. Anyone, including kids as young as 9 years old, can learn the skill of CPR, the association says.
When performed immediately, CPR can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival, according to the association. About 90 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. To join the Nation of Lifesavers this February, visit heart.org/nation for more information.
In partnership with the Nation of Lifesavers, an American Heart Association initiative looks to double the survival rate of cardiac arrest by 2030. It offers many learning options that are designed for people with little or no medical training. The association’s courses can be used for people who need a CPR course completion card for a job, regulatory or other requirements. To see the options, visit cpr.heart.org/en/cpr-courses-and-kits.
In Cedar Rapids, people can take an online CPR course, learn and practice Hands-Only CPR with a CPR Anytime Training Kit, watching a 60-second video to learn Hands-Only CPR or find a nearby Heartsaver certification course.
The three main types of CPR include Traditional, Child and Infant and Hands-Only.
- Traditional CPR: This method combines chest compressions 2 inches in depth at the rate of 100 to 120 beats per minute with two breaths.
- Infant and Child CPR: This method is similar, but has some differences, to Traditional CPR. Child CPR is performed with chest compressions at the depth of 2 inches with one or two hands, followed by two breaths. Infant CPR is performed with chest compressions at the depth of 1.5 inches with two fingers, followed by two breaths and repeated.
- Hands-Only CPR: This method uses chest compression-only CPR. It has been shown to be equally effective as traditional CPR in the first few minutes of emergency response. The two steps used in this method can be found in a 60-second video available at heart.org/handsonlycpr. First, call 911, then push hard and fast in the center of the chest.
The American Heart Association says it “is committed to turning a nation of bystanders into lifesavers.” The multiyear CPR initiative aims to ensure teens and adults can learn about CPR and use an AED — or automated external defibrillator — that helps people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. The effort also aims to help people share this knowledge with friends and family as well as engage employers, policymakers, philanthropists and others to foster support to teach more people about CPR around the United States.
Heart health tips
To detect a heart attack or stroke, Dustin Arnold, UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's chief medical officer, said there can be different symptoms and signs to heart disease that may be subtle:
- Chest pain — a pressure, tightness or squeezing
- Any discomfort that spreads to the left side of a jaw or shoulder (may be the right side sometimes)
- Cold sweats
- Perception of being lightheaded or dizzy
- Women are more likely to present with profound fatigue
“The key is that if you are feeling ill, you should get checked out,” Arnold said. “ … If you have risk factors — family history, high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol — and you have a symptom that is abrupt, onset and concerning, we really need you to come in.”
Last year, St. Luke’s — through funding from the St. Luke’s Foundation — gave away 56 AEDs to area first responders, ambulance crews and nonprofit organizations in Benton, Jones and Linn counties through its Heart Saver program.
Police officers’ and firefighters’ use of AEDs has dramatically improved the rate of heart attack survival, Arnold said. Efforts to improve awareness also have helped.
In the early 1990s, about half of people with heart disease presented with an actual heart attack or sudden death. Now that’s less than 15 percent, Arnold said.
“The real take home is don’t smoke, exercise, and take care of yourself is the best way to prevent a heart attack,” Arnold said.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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