American Heart Association holds day of CPR training Ireland Walker — NEWS10 ABC

 Community CPR Day took place on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the MVP Arena. 10 trainers offered half-hour instruction to over 300 people who signed up to learn the American Heart Association’s hands-only CPR.

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) –  Community Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Day took place on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the MVP Arena. 10 trainers offered half-hour instruction to over 300 people who signed up to learn the American Heart Association’s hands-only CPR.

The American Heart Association also had the goal of providing 25 CPR and First Aid in youth sports kits to selected Albany County youth sports teams. Survivors of sudden cardiac arrest and American Heart Association Hands-Only CPR instructors were at the training day along with those looking to learn CPR.

According to the American Heart Association, every year, 350,000 people suffer out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest, and only 10 percent survive. The association states that having CPR performed doubles or triples the chances of survival for victims of sudden cardiac arrest.

The sessions brought in over 300 people who got trained in 30-minute intervals by professionals. During the sessions, music was playing over the speakers, all with beats that correspond to the pace CPR is administered at. Those involved in the training included Robbie Maccue, an Assistant Chief at the Colonie EMS Department, and he said the music helps people get the hang of the motions.

“The classic song is Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees; our playlist today everything is about 100 to 120 beats per minute,” Maccue said. “The science by the American Heart Association has shown that is the best rate for survival.”

Joe Mendrick was one of many survivors of cardiac arrest at the event. His life was saved by CPR just 13 years ago, and ever since, he was been involved in helping others learn CPR.

“I was up to bat at a little league game, and the kid threw the ball, and it hit my chest and I underwent a condition known as Commotio Cordis,” Mendrick said. “I was out in the field, I dropped in the field and like I said, my coaches were CPR certified, and they came out and performed compressions on me. Having them know how to do CPR and knowing what to do in a situation like that obviously saved my life. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here today.”

Cardiologist Neil Yager, also assisted in the training and said a key part of the training is identifying if someone is in cardiac arrest.

“We want to have some basic skills to help that person survive, and that has been shown across cardiovascular disease, if we can identify people earlier enough and recognize what’s going on, we will have better outcomes,” Yager said.

The training session was made possible by the Innovation Partnership, a collaboration between Albany County and MVP Health Care. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said he thinks it’s important that those in the county have these lifesaving skills.

“The data analytics shows if we got people out there trained, aware of how to take care of a situation like that, that’s the difference between someone not making it to the hospital and someone making it to the hospital,” McCoy said.

The American Heart Association has upcoming events listed on their webpage that allow for involvement and support the organization.

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