American Heart Association and Essentia Health Have Provided “CPR Anytime Kits” To Businesses

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Every year, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of a hospital. The American Heart Association and Essentia Health want to make a goal of doubling the survival rate by 2030 with their “CPR Anytime Kits.”

“It has everything to do to practice your CPR and practice compressions. So the goal of this is to train people in the communities and also have them train their friends, their family, their people in the community. Also to help perform CPR correctly too because eventually all of us may need this,” said Ryan Telford – STEMI Program Manager And Chest Pain Center Manager at Essentia Health.

So far twelve businesses from Fargo, Dilworth, Casselton and others have received four kits each. The kits allow them to train their employees with basic lifesaving skills in 20 minutes.

“As somebody who has done it quite a few times in my career it is harder than it appears. So, do not be afraid to push too hard. It’s better to push a little bit too hard versus not hard enough. If you don’t push hard enough you’re not going to get that blood flow and the blood flowing through your body as well,” said Telford.

Out of the 350,000 cardiac arrests, 10,000 occur in the workplace each year. Currently, 55% of employers aren’t able to perform CPR or provide first aid.

“We’re trying to save more lives. We’re trying to improve outcomes for our community and as big as we can get that going into the future the better you know. The more lives we can save the more people feel empowered to take action,” said Jessica Lundgren, Regional Senior School Engagement Director with American Heart Association.