Horace J. Boudreaux Sr.
February 6, 2009Jimmy Crochet
February 10, 2009What do you get when you cross a defibrillator with KITT, the talking car from “Knight Rider?”
Classes offering instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation will be held as part of the Keep the Beat CPR program at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center on Saturday, Feb. 28.
Free two-hour sessions will be conducted at 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The area high school having the most students attending will receive an automated external defibrillator that gives verbal instructions to users.
Students’ family members that attend can be counted as part of each high school’s participation.
“We’re encouraging high schools to participate,” said Anne Kowle, committee co-chair for Keep the Beat.
According to a Keep the Beat news release, “The combination of both CPR and the use of an AED greatly increases a victim’s chance for survival because these steps can be taken prior to the arrival of a professional medical team.”
The American Heart Association gives four steps on how a bystander can respond to a heart attack victim: contact 911, administer CPR, and use defibrillation if available.
Bystander CPR can almost double a heart attack victim’s chances of survival, although many people in the area do not know how to perform CPR, the release states. South Louisiana has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the industrialized world.
Top sponsors of the Keep the Beat event are Terrebonne General Medical Center, the Cardiopulmonary Institute of the South, HTV, and the Louisiana Connection Network.
The Keep the Beat program in Houma began in 2003. More information can be obtained at www.keepthebeat.net. To register for the free CPR class, call 1-877-288-0011.
