by: Ellen Fleming
BOSTON (WWLP) – It was a sea of red Monday at the State House for Heart on the Hill day.
More than 350,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every year in this country, and bills on Beacon Hill are looking to help save lives. Of those 350,000 people, only 1 in 10 victims survive on average.
A victim of a cardiac event has the best chance of survival if a bystander performs CPR until emergency responders arrive. However, not everyone knows how to perform CPR and an AED is not always available.
That’s when an emergency dispatcher comes in. A bill in the House and Senate would require that all 911 telecommunicators are trained in telephone-assisted CPR. It would also increase access to AEDs and it would make sudden cardiac arrest a reportable disease.
The thought is by training students, the next generation of “heart savers” will be created. After the speaking program, the advocates went to lobby lawmakers and asked them to quickly schedule hearings on these bills.
