Stamford Officials Seek CPR Training Record
As Appearing in The Stamford Advocate
STAMFORD — City officials are hoping to train 10,000 Stamford adults in CPR in a single day — an event organizers say will improve heart health in the community and possibly break Singapore’s world record for large-scale CPR instruction.
Hands for Life, a group of government and Stamford Hospital officials as well as local volunteers, is coordinating the free training session Aug. 25 at Chelsea Piers. More than 100 trained instructors will teach hands-only chest compressions to 1,000 people an hour in 15-minute intervals, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“Each and every person who has this training will feel empowered and have the power to potentially save a life,” Mayor Michael Pavia said at a Tuesday news conference announcing the initiative. “Are we going to let a little city like Singapore stand in our way?”
The Singapore Heart Foundation organized the CPR training session, which provided instruction to 7,909 people in January 2011, that holds the record, according to Guinness World Records’ website. In addition to possibly snagging international recognition for the city, Stamford cardiologist Thomas Nero said the August event will raise awareness for the life-saving cardiac procedure.
“Each year 785,000 Americans suffer from a heart attack and nearly 300,000 of these suffer cardiac arrest at the same time, often outside a hospital setting,” Nero said Wednesday. “Many people feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency, because they do not know how to administer CPR, do not feel confident in their skills or are afraid.”
The first response to a cardiac event should be calling 911, Nero said. Providing chest compressions or an automatic external defibrillator to a person suffering a cardiac event can also buy life-saving time until paramedics arrive, he said.
Stamford resident Chris Mira experienced the terror of cardiac distress twice in one week. The Greens Farm Academy physical education teacher said he was walking to the store from his home when he began suffering from what felt like intense indigestion.
“The pain knocked me down to my knees,” Mira said. “So I turned around and headed home. The whole time I was telling myself this wasn’t a heart attack. They say when you’re dying your whole life passes before your eyes. I didn’t see my past, I saw my future. My son had a birthday coming up.”
Mira collapsed on his living room floor and was saved by emergency workers who responded to his wife’s 911 call. At the hospital he learned an artery collapsed due to high cholesterol, and he received a stent to repair the damage. A few days after he returned home from the hospital he suffered another attack and was saved by two friends who performed CPR after he passed out.
“Like Dr. Nero said, if the people closest to you are trained in CPR, there’s a better chance of survival if you suffer an attack,” Mira said.
Read more: The Stamford Advocate
Cool!
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Yeah! Let’s make Stamford the Heart Healthiest City in the Nation! Come on all!
Thanks for the great article!
Come on everybody in Stamford, in Fairfield County, in Westchester County, spend a little time a Chelsea Piers CT celebrating life and learn a skill for a lifetime!
Yippie!
We want to participate and this site made it easy. Great work all around. Registered just in time.
Saw this article in the Stamford Advocate… awesome! Go go go!!!
Impressive. Will you be adding more soon?
Good job City of Stamford!
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