West Chester residents encouraged to update CPR training | Health

WEST CHESTER, OH (FOX19) - The West Chester Fire Department encourages all adults to receive CPR training and/or update their training.

The Fire Department offers CPR and first aid training all year long as part of West Chester University, an on-going series of educational programs offered by West Chester Township.

It is critical that all adults are trained in this life-saving tool and that they renew training periodically.

The focus of recent guidelines issued by The America Heart Association is on chest compressions as the first in the sequence of steps. Previously, CPR guidelines encouraged priorities to be Airway, Breathing, Circulation (ABC), and now the sequence is Circulation, Airway, and Breathing.

There are two reasons for these changes, more people will hopefully step in and perform CPR if they are not worried about having to do mouth-to-mouth right away. Secondly, a victim of cardiac arrest needs blood flow immediately to ensure the heart and brain get the blood supply they need.

West Chester Emergency Medical Services Captain Steve Kelly encourages all residents to plan now to participate in a CPR training session. "CPR is a critical skill that everyone should learn and become familiar with," said Captain Kelly. "Proper recognition and treatment of cardiac arrest starts with the phone call to 911 and the initiation of CPR quickly even before Fire and EMS units arrive at the scene."

A victim of cardiac arrest has the best chance of survival if CPR is started immediately and an AED is used within the first few minutes.

For a list of available CPR and First Aid classes, visit WestChesterOH.org.