Learn Lifesaving at Employee Kickoff

During pre-game festivities and throughout Duke's home football opener Sept. 1, the Duke Heart Center and Duke Women's Health Initiative will teach compression-only CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation). 

The free training will be in a tent on the main concourse near the Coca Cola Kids Zone. Volunteers will have seven stations and 14 training mannequins to teach people compression-only CPR. Training takes less than 15 minutes and will be available from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Sudden cardiac arrest is on e of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Recent American Heart Association research has prompted new CPR guidelines that recommend compression-only CPR instead of the old practice of compressions with mouth-to-mouth "rescue" breathing. 

"With compression-only CPR, a bystander can double the chances of someone surviving a sudden cardiac arrest," said Kathy Kastan, director of Duke Medicine's Women's Health and Advocacy Initiative. "Yet only 17 percent of the people in this City of Medicine are trained to offer this kind of CPR." 

The Employee Kickoff Celebration on Sept. 1 will be one of several training events held over the next few years as various groups at Duke collaborate to teach people how to recognize sudden cardiac arrest and provide appropriate care as a bystander.  To help get the message out, Joanne P. McCallie, coach of the Duke Women's Basketball team, explains the importance of compression-only CPR in a short video. 

"We appreciate the support that people from all across Duke are giving this campaign," Kastan said. "We have people collaborating with us from Athletics, Human Resources, Student Affairs and Duke Medicine because they recognize the trauma and tragedy that befalls families when someone dies from a sudden cardiac arrest." 

For more information about learning compression-only CPR, call 888-ASK-DUKE.