Children will be in a safer environment when parents have knowledge through completion of the Heart Saver CPR program. Many victims of sudden cardiac arrest have ventricular fibrillation (VF). VF is an abnormal, chaotic heart rhythm that prevents the heart from pumping blood. The only treatment for VF is defibrillation. Defibrillation is a shock that stops VF and allows a normal heart rhythm to resume. When VF is present, prompt defibrillation will increase the victim’s chance of survival. With each minute that defibrillation is delayed during cardiac arrest caused by VF, the victim’s chance of survival is reduced by 7% to 10%. If defibrillation is provided within the first 5 minutes of a VF cardiac arrest, the victim’s chance of survival is about 50%. After 10 to 12 minutes of cardiac arrest there is a very little chance of a successful rescue unless CPR has been provided. CPR prolongs the time that defibrillation can be effective, increasing the “window of opportunity” for resuscitation. To increase the victim’s chance of survival, you must provide CPR until the defibrillator arrives. Source: American Heart Association.

Worth County Public Health has been awarded funding through Empowerment to provide CPR certification to parents of 0-5 year olds living in Worth County. The American Red Cross “Heart Saver” CPR will be offered to the parents at no charge. This is a one time session for parents to participate in. The session will be up to 4 hours in length depending on the number of questions by participants. We are taking names of adults who will be interested in the training. This will be provided on a first come first serve basis. Once we have enough participants for a class, sessions will be scheduled. Please contact Worth County Public Health office at 641-324-1741 to be put on the list.