New Jersey Residents Recognized for Saving Lives With CPR

New Jersey Residents Recognized for Saving Lives With CPR

CPR training in NJ will prepare you for many types of emergencies, but with any luck you’ll never find yourself in a situation where someone’s life is in danger. However, if that type of situation ever occurs, you’ll be prepared to quickly act, providing CPR and other emergency care to increase the victim’s chance of survival. After suffering sudden cardiac arrest, a person only has about an 8% chance of surviving before they make it to the hospital; however, immediate CPR can double the chance of survival and saves over 90,000 lives every year in the United States.

Though learning CPR is often a thankless task, those who are able to use it to save someone else’s life usually receive the gratitude of the person’s family and community. That gratitude is more than enough of a reward, but in New Jersey the American Heart Association actually gives an award to people who’ve used CPR to make the state a safer place. The New Jersey American Heartsaver Awards were given out on June 3rd and were awarded to 29 residents of New Jersey for their efforts to save people’s lives. Some of these individuals were recognized for individual acts of CPR and others were recognized for other efforts that advance CPR training in NJ.

Applying CPR Training and Other Knowledge to Save Lives

In addition to learning how to perform CPR specifically, CPR training in NJ also teaches individuals how to identify when someone needs emergency medical care and how to use an AED device to help people suffering from sudden cardiac arrest. These training programs provide participants with a lot of knowledge and skills that they can use in a number of different situations such as when someone has a heart attack, suffers an allergic reaction, almost drowns, is shocked with electricity, chokes, or suffocates.

One of the recipients of the award this year was Melanie Mercado, a resident of Union County who works as a registered nurse at RWJ University Hospital in Rahway. When she was going home from work one day, she saw someone lying in the middle of the street and realized they were the victim of a hit-and-run. Using her CPR training, Mercado told someone else to call 911 while she began performing CPR. She continued to provide CPR until the paramedics arrived and the woman would not have survived without her help and immediate action.

Providing CPR Skills and Training to More NJ Residents

Though the American Heart Association honors a lot of people who directly perform CPR to save another’s life, it also uses its awards to bring attention to people and organizations that provide CPR training in NJ and increase the number of trained and prepared citizens who can perform CPR. This year Joseph Przytula also received an award for his efforts to do just that.

After the state government passed legislation to provide CPR training in NJ public schools, Pryztula helped implement the program in Elizabeth Public Schools. As the supervisor of health, safety, and physical education, he makes sure that every student receives CPR and AED training before they graduate—more than 700 students every year. His fantastic efforts to expand CPR training have made his school, community, and state a much safer place for everyone who lives and works here.

For those interested in CPR training in NJ, there are many places across the state where this type of training is available. The more people that learn how to respond in emergencies, the safer everyone will be when emergencies happen. When a person performs immediate CPR and AED, they can triple the chance of the victim surviving the ordeal. If you are looking for CPR training in NJ, contact us today.

Sources:

http://www.nj.com/suburbannews/index.ssf/2015/06/two_union_county_residents_hon.html