Fla. Dept. of Health in Manatee County Celebrates World Heart Day | From the Bradenton Times

In celebration of World Heart Day, Sept. 29, the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County is promoting heart health by hosting Hands-Only™ CPR training. World Heart Day is an annual event created by the World Heart Foundation to remind everyone that heart disease and stroke are the world’s leading causes of death. The theme for 2015 is creating heart-healthy environments.

According to Dr. Jennifer Bencie, Administrator at Florida Department of Health in Manatee, “This will be an excellent educational event for the community. We are very pleased to work in collaboration the Manatee Technical College to bring it to our community.”

In Florida, 23.4 percent of adults age 65 and older reported in 2013 that they had been told by a healthcare provider that they had a heart attack, coronary heart disease or stroke. Heart disease was the leading cause of death in Florida in 2014 and is the number one killer of women, taking more lives than all forms of cancer combined.

Hands-Only™ CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is recommended for use by people who see a teen or adult suddenly collapse in an “out-of-hospital” setting (such as at home, at work, or in a park). It consists of two easy steps:

1. Call 9-1-1 (or send someone to do that); and
2. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest.

According to Dr.Priscilla Haflich, Assistant Director of Manatee Technical College, “We

are pleased to be hosting such a valuable event here at our school since it will benefit

the local community as well as or students and staff. We hope the community comes

out to support such a worthwhile effort.”

The school is located at 6305 State Road-70 East in Bradenton. The event will run from 9:00am until 1:30pm. It’s open to everyone.

Hands-Only™ CPR performed by a bystander has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR with mouth-to-mouth breaths in the first few minutes of sudden cardiac arrest. Watch these videos for a brief overview of Hands Only™ CPR.