Sevierville Fire Department Offering CPR Class

Learn CPR and you could save the life of your loved one or someone else’s.

The Sevierville Fire Department is holding an American Heart Association CPR class where citizens can learn and become certified in CPR.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency lifesaving procedure that can increase the chances of survival when a person’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped by maintaining the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and vital organs until more definitive medical treatment can be applied.

About 92% of people who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest die before reaching a hospital. According to the American Heart Association, immediate CPR may double, or even triple, a victim’s chance of survival.

This CPR class will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014 from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Sevierville Fire Department’s Fire Station 1, 122 Prince Street in downtown Sevierville. Class registration is open to the public. Cost for the class is $20.00 per person (checks payable to the City of Sevierville), which includes all class materials and a certification card.

Even if you have taken a CPR course in the past, this is a great opportunity to learn current American Heart Association CPR guidelines. In 2010, the AHA made significant changes to the sequence of CPR actions, as well as chest compression frequency and technique.

“For more than 40 years, CPR training has emphasized the ABCs of CPR, which instructed people to open a victim’s airway by tilting their head back, pinching the nose and breathing into the victim’s mouth, and only then giving chest compressions,” said Michael Sayre, M.D., co-author of the 2010 guidelines and chairman of the American Heart Association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) Committee. “This approach was causing significant delays in starting chest compressions, which are essential for keeping oxygen-rich blood circulating through the body. Changing the sequence from A-B-C to C-A-B for adults and children allows all rescuers to begin chest compressions right away.”

Sevierville Fire Department personnel will also provide some fire safety tips. For additional information or to register for this CPR class, please call or email SFD Training Officer Mike Williams at 865-868-1713.