Merit Medical Partners with American Heart Association to Help Save Lives

This February is a special one. Not only is it Heart Month, but it’s the American Heart Association’s 100 th birthday —and we feel honored to partner with them, helping to spread the word about the importance of hands-only CPR.

CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and is used when someone experiences cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is an electrical malfunction in the heart that causes an irregular heartbeat and disrupts blood flow to the brain, lungs, and other organs.

Hands-only CPR is performed in two simple steps, helping to keep blood flow active and extend the opportunity for a successful resuscitation once trained medical staff arrive.

Learn the steps.

When a person has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby.

According to the American Heart Association , each year more than 350,000 people experience cardiac arrests outside of a hospital, including 23,000 children, making CPR a critical skill.

About 90 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival. If you’re called to give CPR in an emergency, you’ll most likely be trying to save the life of someone you love: a child, a spouse, a parent, or a friend. Be prepared by finding and joining a CPR class near you .

Your chance of survival while waiting for emergency medical services during a cardiac emergency decrease by 10% every minute without CPR.

Follow us and the American Heart Association throughout February for more information on heart health and CPR. We’ll also be sharing all the ways our Merit family is recognizing this important month.

Place: Merit Care Clinic

Date: February 5 ̶ 9

Time: 11:00 a.m. ̶ 12:30 p.m.

Place: Bean Café

Date: February 14

Time: 10:30 a.m. ̶ 1:00 p.m.

Place: Bean Building

Date: February 21

Time: 10:00 a.m. ̶ 1:50 p.m.