American Heart Association offers CPR/AED practice at Ballard Farmer’s Market

At Sunday’s Ballard Farmer’s Market, the American Heart Association and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association (Seattle Chapter) set up a booth for people to get hands-only CPR and AED experience.

Cherish Hart from the American Heart Association, demonstrating CPR

Cherish Hart is the senior community health director for the American Heart Association. She said June 1-7 is  national CPR week, and that it’s a good time to educate because the guidelines have changed. At the market, Hart and two other volunteers were teaching hands-only CPR. “Anybody can do hands-only CPR, you don’t need any training to do that,” explained Hart. “All you have to do is call 911, and press hard and fast in the center of the chest. You don’t have to worry about breaths, or anything else; just a hundred beats per minute, and hard. You want to press at least two inches deep. Keep doing that until the paramedics arrive.”

Hart, demonstrating the AED

Along with two dummies for CPR practice was an AED machine. Anyone can use an AED machine, Hart said. “A lot of people would be afraid to use one, but the cool thing is, it will tell you what to do,” she explained. She went through the process of attaching the shock pads, and an automated voice gave step-by-step instructions. “It’ll check to see if the patient actually needs a shock,” said Hart. “Some will even tell you how to do CPR while you wait for paramedics to arrive.”

Hart said it’s important to act immediately if you are near someone going through cardiac arrest. To find out more about how to get the full CPR training, you can visit the American Heart Association’s website.