Overland Park, Kansas, Aug. 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Citizen CPR Foundation (CCPRF) today announced visionary new strategies designed to move the needle on sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survival rates in the U.S.
The foundation’s mission is to save more lives from sudden cardiac arrest by activating effective community, professional and citizen action. To bring it to life nationwide, they have formed new partnerships, re-imagined their biennial conference and are launching two new programs – HEARTSafe Communities and 40 Under 40.
“Today’s survival rate after out of hospital cardiac arrest is generally less than 10 percent,” said Vinay M. Nadkarni, MD, MS, the Endowed Chair of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and president of the CCPRF Executive Board. “We have always been about activating the entire chain of survival, including survivors, and now we are taking our efforts to an entirely new level.”
Building new partnerships
The foundation is collaborating with mission-aligned business and non-profits to create a Partner Council who will help guide this new vision and support CCPRF initiatives. Partners include the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross, with support from industry including Laerdal Medical, MD Solutions International, Prestan Products, Save Station and WorldPoint. As the Partner Council grows in the coming months, it will expand the network of expertise and engagement even further.
“We are bringing together under one big tent, missioned-aligned businesses, other non-profits, and leaders in the industry to reduce cardiac arrest-related deaths,” said Dr. Nadkarni. “By collaborating and working together year-round, we’ll ensure that a larger collective impact is made.” More information is at citizencpr.org
Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit 2019 replaces ECCU
CCPRF has hosted the pre-eminent conference of its kind, the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update or ECCU, for over twenty years. As part of its new expanded strategy, the meeting has been reimagined as the Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit.
This biennial conference will become the world’s most comprehensive and inclusive of its kind, with programming and events that inform, motivate and activate. It will continue to draw together CPR instructors, advocates, survivors and their families, emergency service personnel, and community & clinical leaders helping to strengthen networks of support, preparedness, and response.
The Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit is December 10-13, 2019 in Seattle, WA. Learn more at citizencpr.org/summit.
Nationwide launch of HEARTSafe Communities™
Saving lives one community at a time, the HEARTSafe Communities™ program is a set of SCA training, preparation and response protocols to be implemented on the local level. It provides steps to improve a community’s readiness to save the lives of family, neighbors and friends.
Achieving the standards and criteria as set forth by a collaborative of national leaders and experts in community preparedness - such as widespread CPR instruction, public access to defibrillators, and aggressive resuscitation protocols for first responders and area hospitals - communities will earn the official designation of HEARTSafe Community™, including signage.
Launching the program nationwide will include an ongoing awareness-building campaign and call for community leaders and business of all kinds to attend Summit and learn how to make their cities more safe. More details are on the website.
New 40 Under 40 Award recognizes achievements in the field
To advance its vision and mission, CCPRF has created a program to engage the next generation of thought leaders and heroes in the field of resuscitation. The 40 Under 40 program recognizes 40 honorees who have made a difference in cardiac arrest survival. This next generation will be recognized formally this year at the Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit. Nominate yourself or someone else at citizencpr.org/40-under-40.
“We’re committed to doing even more to improve survival rates. These robust programs, focused, year-round efforts and collaborations will help move the needle in the right direction,” says Dr. Nadkarni.
For information on the Citizen CPR Foundation and how to become part of their initiatives, contact Jennifer Crocker at jcrocker@citizencpr.org or via phone at 913-402-1881 x180.
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