CPR / AED Initiative Celebrates Achievements
In 2011, as County employees worked to draft the Strategic Plan, Kevin Underhill with EMS shared a frightening truth. Despite being known as the City of Medicine, Durham, he said, had a low rate of cardiac arrest victims who had CPR performed on them before the arrival of emergency personnel. This bystander intervention greatly increases the chance of survival. So, what could be done to help save lives? From there, bystander "hands only" CPR and defibrillator training took off as an early strategic initiative as part of Goal 3, "Safe and Secure Community." The initiative evolved into a partnership with the City of Durham and Durham Public Schools. The collaboration resulted in the training of roughly 3,000 DPS tenth graders, helping the school system in early steps to begin achieving a new state mandate. Additionally, staff trained hundreds of other County residents at various community events. Meanwhile, staff training sessions took place across the County, and now approximately 90 percent of County employees have received CPR/AED training. An expanded training has been made available by partnering with the City. And defibrillators, or AEDs, have been installed at County buildings, thereby providing a tool that can be used in the event of cardiac arrest. After achieving these key milestones, the CPR/AED initiative has come to a close. Now, City, County and DPS officials are discussing a new "Safe Durham" initiative. Stay tuned for more details.
