VIDEO: It’s national CPR and AED awareness week! Since 2007, health organizations like the American Heart Association have used the first week of June to spotlight how lives can be saved if more people know CPR and how to use an AED. When a person’s breathing or heart stops, CPR can save their life but only if it’s given quick enough. Chief Thomas Herndon with Chatham EMS says, “every minute counts.” For every minute without intervention, the chance of survival drops for a person experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, according to the American Heart Association. 911 should always be your first call, giving responders as much time as possible time to arrive on scene. Until they get there, someone else’s life is in your hands. “As long as you can do a little bit of CPR on these people you give them that much more of a fight,” says Chief Herndon.
