It’s National CardioPulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator Awareness Week, and a new South Dakota program has helped several rural communities up their preparedness levels.
Only 51 percent of Americans feel they’d be able to perform CPR manually in an emergency, according to a new survey.
For those experiencing a cardiac emergency, chances of survival drop 10 percent for every minute that passes. Those minutes add up in rural communities, where emergency services take longer.
That’s why Daphne Moeller, the HOSA Future Health Professionals adviser at the school in Iroquois – population 300 – got her town involved in South Dakota Department of Health’s Cardiac Ready Communities program, which helps educate and equip communities to respond.
“We plan on having more community outreach opportunities,” said Moeller, “for example, blood pressure screenings, CPR and AED training events. And obtaining additional AEDs for local businesses is a really big one for me.”
Iroquois’ nearest medical center is 15 miles away. According to a 2017 study, the median wait time for emergency medical services in rural areas is more than twice the average – 14 minutes, compared to an average of seven.
The Cardiac Ready Communities program goes beyond just hands-only CPR training. It also maps out where AEDs are in a community, and where others should be, said American Heart Association’s Senior Rural Health Director in the Midwest Tim Nikolai.
“Sometimes,” said Nikolai, “it’s just a matter of identifying those gaps and then rallying the troops to address that.”
Iroquois is the fifth South Dakota community recognized as cardiac-ready.
Greater Dakota News Service
