Free CPR Classes for Veterans, Families and Friends

Would you know what to do in a life-threatening, emergency situation? A husband, wife, brother, sister, mother, father, or a stranger on an elevator with you could stop breathing, go into cardiac arrest, choke, or have a stroke. It is important to learn what to measures to take, should one of these situations arise.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a simple procedure used when someone’s heart and breathing stop suddenly. Causes may include heart attack, drug overdose, poisoning, choking, drowning, electrocution, or trauma.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in adults. Most arrests occur in people with underlying heart disease. Many are caused by abnormal heart rhythms; ventricular fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia that causes sudden cardiac arrest. This is when the heart quivers and defibrillation – electrical current applied to the heart to shock it back to a normal rhythm – is needed to restore a normal rhythm.

Although rescue breathing and chest compression can’t treat ventricular fibrillation, CPR will circulate oxygenated blood to the brain and other vital organs. This buys precious time until defibrillation can be performed.

The American Heart Association cites four items that cardiac arrest survivors often have in common: a "citizen bystander" who witnessed the arrest and called 9-1-1, a bystander who immediately began CPR, defibrillation to shock the victim’s heart back to a normal rhythm, and emergency responders who provided advanced cardiac life support. If this series of actions is followed in rapid succession, cardiac arrest victims have a much better chance of becoming survivors.

Who should learn CPR?

It is important for family members and friends of people with suspected heart problems to learn CPR.

The Education Service Line of the Houston VA Medical Center offers free CPR classes for all veterans and their families and friends.

Upcoming classes will take place June 22 at 9 a.m., July 26 at 9 a.m., Aug. 16 at 5:30 p.m. and Sept. 21 at 9 a.m. Each four-hour class will be held in the hospital’s fourth floor auditorium, located at 2002 Holcombe Blvd.

Save a life – take the time to learn CPR. Call (713) 794-7141 for registration and additional information. Class sizes are limited.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/06_01_02/page_10.html