Deer Valley, AZ – The City of Phoenix is one of five cities that have been chosen by the American Heart Association and Cities of Service to receive 500 CPR Anytime Kits (or Hands-Only™ CPR training kits) to help turn more of their residents into lifesavers.
Cities of Service is a bipartisan coalition of more than 180 mayors committed to using citizen service to address local needs. Last year’s grant recipients were able to train nearly 17,000 people in lifesaving Hands-Only CPR skills. This year, Phoenix plans to train 3,000 Phoenix residents to act as first responders in cardiac arrest emergencies.
“CPR is a critical skill to that can help save the life of a friend, a family member or even a complete stranger,” said Mayor Greg Stanton. “We’re grateful that the American Heart Association and the Cities of Service are helping us instruct our residents on how to save lives.”
This year’s training kit grant winners also include Duluth, Minn., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Richmond, Va., and Rock Hill, S.C. The grants will support the implementation of the Cities of Service Volunteer CPR Blueprint, a high-impact service strategy in which the mayors’ office partners with local medical professionals and emergency responders to train volunteers to use the lifesaving Hands-Only CPR technique.
The Blueprint calls for the volunteers, who are trained by professionals, to teach CPR to at least five other residents to vastly improve a community’s ability to respond to sudden cardiac emergencies.
The city’s partners include the Fire Department, Mayor’s Office and City Manager’s Office. Phoenix will target residents, employees, faith based organizations and scout leaders.
Nearly 400,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the United States, and 89 percent of victims die because they don’t receive immediate CPR from someone on the scene.
Hands-Only CPR is a quick, easy way to save more lives. If you see a teen or adult suddenly collapse, (1) Call 9-1-1; and (2) Push hard and fast in the center of the chest. Doing these compressions at the proper beat can more than double a person’s chances of survival. Coincidentally, the proper beat matches the classic Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive.”
Cities interested in the grant program or joining the Cities of Service coalition can email [email protected] to learn how to get involved.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country. Follow us on Facebook http://facebook.com/AmericanHeart and Twitter http://twitter.com/American_Heart.
About Cities of Service
Founded in September 2009 by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and 16 other mayors from across the nation, Cities of Service is a bipartisan coalition of mayors committed to addressing critical city needs through impact volunteering. American cities face serious challenges and many mayors want to take advantage of every resource available to them – including the time and energy of public-spirited residents – to address those challenges. But in cities across America today, citizen service is often an underutilized or inefficiently utilized strategy by municipal governments. By leveraging citizen service strategies, Cities of Service helps mayors address local needs and make government more effective. To learn more, visit citiesofservice.org or follow us on Twitter @CitiesofService.
