Anchorage, Alaska, Nov. 21, 2024 - On National Rural Health Day, the American Heart Association, the world's leading nonprofit organization devoted to a world of healthier lives for all, announced a multi-year effort to bring Hands-Only CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) skills to rural communities across Alaska. The initiative aims to increase the number of people who are prepared and empowered to respond if they see someone in cardiac arrest, going from bystander to lifesaver.
Most remote villages in Alaska are detached from the state's road system, meaning it can take a long time for medical help to arrive in an emergency. If someone experiences cardiac arrest, survival hinges on someone nearby immediately and correctly starting chest compressions and using an AED, but many do not know how to perform CPR nor where an AED is located.
To help change this, the American Heart Association in Alaska, in collaboration with local community leaders and certified LifeMed Alaska trainers, is bringing its science-backed CPR Anytime® Training Kits to remote communities across the state. By 2030, the American Heart Association aims to visit more than 200 rural Alaskan villages. Each visit will include a Hands-Only CPR and AED skills session led by a LifeMed Alaska expert. One CPR Anytime® Training Kit will be left in each village so residents can practice their skills and teach others about Hands-Only CPR and AEDs.
"Imagine you're in a remote village here in Alaska. Even in the best weather conditions, due to the sheer geography of our state it can take a long time for specialized medical help to reach you in a cardiac arrest emergency," said Kristin George, executive director, American Heart Association, Alaska. "That's why it's critical for everyone in every village to learn these lifesaving skills. You hope you'll never need them, but they can be the difference between life and death for someone you love."
Each year in the U.S., more than 350,000 people experience cardiac arrests outside of a hospital. Unfortunately, 90% of these individuals do not survive. Immediate CPR can double or even triple a cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival and children as young as 9 years old can learn to perform it.
In October, the American Heart Association and LifeMed Alaska embarked on an initial round of visits to bring Hands-Only CPR and AED skills to rural communities in the Norton Sound region including St. Michael (pop. 300), Wales (pop. 294) and Shishmaref (pop. 568). More visits across multiple regions in the state are planned for the coming months and years.
The American Heart Association is the worldwide leader in resuscitation science education training publishing official guidelines for CPR through Nation Lifesavers™ set goal doubling survival cardiac arrest by 2030 rural effort sponsored Foss Family Foundation LifeMed Alaska.