Railroad Workers CPR trained through Take Heart Anoka County
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. 08/15/2008--More than 100 workers with Canadian Pacific Railway were trained on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) this summer by Take Heart Anoka County.
Nyle Zikmund, chief of the Spring Lake Park, Blaine Mounds View Fire Corps, brought the Anytime CPR Program to the attention of his department. Mike Erko, who is a member of the Fire Corps and works for Canadian Pacific Railway, saw an opportunity to take the program back to his coworkers at the railroad.
"The Railroad workers reacted very favorably and we had a high participation rate," said Erko. "The feedback from workers and managers who attended was all good."
Training consisted of an explanation of the program and of the Fire Corps. Then, participants watched a DVD about CPR and had some hands-on work with manikins.
Erko says the Fire Corps plans on with more training in the future. "The SBM Fire Corps would like to see all of Anoka County well equipped to save lives and enhance the quality of our own lives as well as residents of our community," he said.
Through a grant funded by Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation, Take Heart Anoka County is giving the north metro community an opportunity to apply for two life-saving training opportunities: the CPR Anytime package and the AED package. The applications are open to community organizations, groups, schools, churches or businesses within Take Heart Anoka County area.
The CPR Anytime package contains five to 60 CPR Anytime kits. Each kit includes a mini CPR manikin, a CPR skills practice DVD, American Heart Association CPR for family and friends booklet, and a mini Anne spare lung. The package also includes a one-hour train-the-trainer CPR session. Applicants must train a minimum of three individuals for every kit received and there must be a deposit of $10 for each kit. The deposit is refundable when the required people have been trained.
The AED Package includes the brand of choice AED; preparedness kit and wall mount storage cabinet. Take Heart staff lead an orientation session to determine which AED is most appropriate for the site and AED training. The AED Package requires a $400 deposit that is refundable when applicants conduct CPR training of at least 25 people per site.
To apply for a grant, submit a completed Take Heart Anoka County grant application by email or mail by Aug 29, 2008. The application form can be found at www.takeheartanoka.org. Funding decisions and notification will be made within 30 days of the application deadline.
More about Take Heart Anoka County
Every year an estimated 350,000 people in the United States die from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Take Heart Anoka County, a coalition of doctors, nurses, paramedics, health educators, and community leaders is partnering with a national project, Take Heart America, to change these statistics. The group is one of four sites in the country participating in a program designed to connect the public with the healthcare community through Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) education, increasing automated external defibrillator (AED) placement and supporting new technologies in Emergency Medical Services and cardiac hospital care.
More about Mercy and Unity hospitals
Mercy and Unity hospitals, located in Coon Rapids and Fridley, are non-profit hospitals that serve the northwestern Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Mercy and Unity respond to a wide range of health care needs. The hospitals are part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a not-for-profit family of hospitals, clinics and other care services dedicated to meeting the lifelong health care needs of communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
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