National India Hub Community Health & CP Training Center, Schaumburg, Illinois, USA, An initiative By Dr. Vemuri S Murthy, “Global Champion of Resuscitation”
President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first proclamation in 1964, declaring February every year as the “American Heart Month.” The first Friday of the American Heart Month is also“National Wear Red Day,” an initiative by the American Heart Association to raise awareness of
heart disease among women.
During this month, organizations such as the American Heart Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and The Heart Truth strive to raise public awareness of heart disease, the Number One Global
Killer.
As a part of prevention, it’s essential to encourage the communities to have regular heart health screenings involving blood pressure and cholesterol. In addition, a balanced diet, regular exercise, and smoking cessation are mandatory for a “Healthy Heart.”
Heart disease is a major Global Public Health problem. People of Indian Origin are at a four-times greater risk of heart disease than their Western counterparts and have a greater chance of having a heart attack before 50 years of age.
According to the American Heart Association, “Cardiac arrest affects >600000 people in the United States annually, with a worldwide annual incidence of 30 to 97 individuals per 100000 population”. South Asian communities (including Indians in India and the Indian diaspora) are especially vulnerable to premature heart disease and sudden cardiac deaths.
The overall survival to hospital discharge in adults resuscitated during out-of-hospital cardiac arrests is around 9% only. The survival may be tripled with immediate on-the-spot “Bystander Hands-only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) using an Automated External Defibrillator
(AED)”.
Bystander Hands-only CPR (HOCPR) is a lifesaver technique in the majority of victims of “Sudden Cardiac Arrest” performed before the arrival of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team.
Dr. Vemuri S Murthy, an Indo-US resuscitation expert, faculty member in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, has contributed to pioneering Indian Cardiac Arrest research by partnering with Indian peers.
Chicago Medical Society, Chicago, Illinois initiated a community Hands-only CPR project, Project SMILE (Saving More Illinois Lives through Education), in 2012, offering training to thousands of community members with a dedicated team of volunteers.
In June 2024, the National India Hub, Schaumburg, Illinois, launched a Community CPR Training Center with state-of-the-art CPR-training equipment for communities and students. The one-hour hands-on training involves a brief educational presentation with the distribution of multi-lingual CPR educational brochures, a video, and hands-on training on manikins with AED.
Hundreds of community members and students are being trained at the Center since the inauguration. The Center is planning to initiate a “Train the Trainer” program for High Schools soon.
The registration link to Hands-only CPR training with AED @ National India
Hub,Schaumburg, Illinois:
https://www.indiahub.org/event-details/cpr-training-2025-02-16-11-00-1
Phone: 1 (888) 886-6335
