NATIONAL CPR AED AWARENESS WEEK - Food For Thought

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 8, 2010 -- NATIONAL CPR/AED AWARENESS WEEK – Food for Thought
Has anyone ever dropped dead at your feet? Did that person collapse by the roadside, at home, at work, the football field, or at school? In fact, does it really matter where they collapsed? The question is - what did you do about it? You may be saying, it has not happened to me yet, I’m so lucky. But if it does, what do you plan to do about it?

Think about being at your son’s football game. While watching him play, he suddenly collapses. No one around him knows how to do CPR – not even you. Also, there is no Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on site. He lays there unresponsive. If he does not survive, who will you blame?

Sudden cardiac arrest is the nation’s leading cause of death. Over 256, 685 have been lost this year alone. That is approximately 1 life every 2 minutes. Many of those lives could have been saved simply by giving CPR and using an AED. AEDs can be placed at schools, churches, offices, airports, hotels, parks, and restaurants. To learn more about CPR and AEDs, visit www.americanheart.org. Your child or loved one is too precious to suddenly die, knowing that you could have done something to save their life.

Michael Jackson, King of Pops, had a sudden cardiac arrest. We are all familiar with his story. No AED was on site. Many reported that by the time the ambulance got there, Michael was dead. Tim Russert, host of NBC died from a sudden cardiac arrest. There was no AED in the studio to give him a chance. By the time, the paramedics got there, he also was dead. However, in 2000, Actor Irwin Blumenthal suffered cardiac arrest on the set of television’s “Ally McBeal, and he survived.” The studio had an AED. The staff used it to administer two shocks that restarted Blumenthal’s heart. By the time emergency services arrived, Blumenthal was breathing unassisted.

I challenge you as a reader of this article and as a valued community member, to check if there is an AED at your child’s school, community center, nearest adult or child care facility, church, nearest airport, workplace, and your favorite hotel and restaurant.

Don’t be the parent or grandparent to say, “if I had only done what I was supposed to do, my baby would have been here with us today. In honor of National CPR/AED Awareness Week, let us remember those whose lives could have been saved by CPR and the use of an AED. Written by Jennifer Townsend, CEO of Health Management Ventures, Inc., 6289 W. Sunrise Blvd., Suite 117, Plantation, Florida 33313. www.healthmanagementventures.com. To respond to this article, send email to office@healthmanagementventures.com.

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