At-home lessons equip family members to respond quickly.
By Lessie Scurry
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County will offer free at-home cardiopulmonary resuscitation kits to all county residents starting next week as part of a national focus on emergency medical services.
“Our approach is CPR awareness for the layperson,” said Alex Lamback, county EMS program manager.
Funded by an anonymous donation of several million dollars to the county through the American Heart Association, the “CPR Anytime Family Kits” can be obtained by contacting local fire officials.
The kits contain an inflatable CPR mannequin, a practice DVD, an American Heart Association booklet and accessories. Using the kits, which have a retail value of about $30 each, CPR skills can be taught in less than 30 minutes, Lamback said.
“It’s a better way of teaching CPR,” Lamback said. “You’re not certified, but you learn to do it. It doesn’t matter if you have a card in your pocket. The key is that we want the layperson to become the first respondent in an emergency and to have started CPR before the EMS gets there.”
That scenario played out for Roswell resident Cynthia Gleich about eight years ago when her now 9-year-old son was just 15 months old.
Gleich, who was visiting her sister in California, had put her son down inside for a nap, but found him later outside floating face-down in the swimming pool. “I pulled him out and did CPR, but nothing was happening,” she said. “He was bluish-gray, and I thought he was dead. Eventually he spat up water. I grabbed him and ran in and called 911.”
Gleich, the reigning Mrs. Atlanta America, in competition to become Mrs. America, said her son stayed in the hospital overnight and is fine all these years later, suffering no consequences from the incident.
“The doctor said there is no way he would have survived without CPR or he would have had severe brain damage,” she said. “I’m a true testament that CPR saves lives.”
The county plans to begin monitoring the use of CPR through a survey using 911 calls and emergency medical workers’ records to evaluate CPR usage and effectiveness and to decide where automatic external defibrillators should be placed.
American Red Cross program specialist Sean Penn said the Red Cross and the American Heart Association share a goal of having at least one person in each household know how to perform CPR, but the Red Cross supports a class setting for training that results in certification.
The Red Cross feels a class setting gives the best opportunity to use the skills,” he said. “We also recommend recertification every year, because sometimes changes in procedure are recommended.”
DID YOU KNOW?
* Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in adults.
* Almost 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home with a family member witnessing the event.
* The low survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest victims could be increased greatly if witnesses would call 911 and immediately begin administering CPR.
Sources: Fulton County Emergency Services, the American Heart Association
HOW TO GET A KIT
The kits will be available throughout Fulton County from Monday, which is the start of Emergency Medical Services Week, through March 2008. Residents should contact their local fire chiefs to request kits.
People who live outside Fulton County can purchase the kits for $29.95 at or by calling the American Heart Association at 1-888-277-5463.