Essentia Health-Fosston Helps Community Earn HeartSafe Status

It’s another reason to celebrate Fosston.

They have just been named a HeartSafe community.

Essentia Health of Fosston has spent the last few months collecting “Heartbeats”, or points, by teaching the city about cardiac arrest.

The healthcare provider demonstrated CPR and trained people in using an AED.

Officials say it’s all about helping everyday people feel confident in an emergency situation.

“I think that they’ve become more aware of how much they could help in a crisis in a sudden cardiac arrest and that was what we focused on,” said RN Kristie Sveningson, who is the Cardiovascular Rehab/Chronic Disease Coordinator at Essentia Health-Fosston.

Essentia started the program in February.

They say they have trained more than 500 adults and students about heart health education.