Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
This week on Healthwatch, we've been talking about heart health. There's one important thing you can do that may have a huge impact on the health of your friends, family, neighbors or even strangers: Learn CPR.
About half a million people have heart attacks away from the hospital every year, but as skilled as emergency personnel are and as efficient as the 911 system may be, they can't help all of those people.
Dr. Paul Pepe, chairman of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says bystanders are crucial for helping heart attack victims within the four or five minutes after a heart attack before brain damage starts to occur. Only about a quarter of American adults have CPR training.
Why not encourage your neighbors, office, church or community group to organize a CPR class? Contact the American Heart Association at
www.americanheart.org for information on CPR training.
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April 2005
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