American Heart Association CPR Training Program

The American Heart Association was started in 1924. It was created by 6 cardiologist. It is considered to be the largest and oldest organization in the United States. Their main focus is on battling heart disease and strokes. This is an important issue because heart disease is the number one cause of death in the world. Strokes are the second leading cause of death right after heart attacks. Even though heart attacks and strokes don’t always lead to death, many people are left disabled which then leads to a poor quality of life. In total there are around 33 million supporters and volunteers. As of today, the American Heart Association has more than 3,400 employees. One very interesting fact about them is that they have raised more than 4.1 billion dollars which is more than any other US non-profit organization.

The AHA has many great programs and services to help combat heart disease and stroke. One of their newest programs is the CPR in Schools Training Kit. This program helps students learn very important lifesaving skills when it comes to CPR. This program can be taught in just one class period. One class period is all it takes to be able to save many lives. One special aspect about this training program is that it also teaches students how to use an AED, which helps people who are choking. The kit is also created to make it easy for students to learn the process. It is also portable and can be reused. This means that it can help train many people. As of today, grades 6-12 and universities are able to get this program. This is a very important program because about 90 percent of people who suffer a heart attack away from a hospital end up dying. However, learning CPR can triple the chances of surviving a heart attack.

One amazing service AHA provides are hands-on CPR training kiosk. These kiosks are installed in many different areas, especially where there are a lot of people. The first kiosk was installed in 2013 at the Dallas international airpor. The purpose of these kiosks is to teach hands-only CPR. Hands-only CPR is very easy to learn. These kiosks provide a short video about the proper way to perform CPR. After the video, the person will then have a practice round. When the practice is over, they will then take a short 30 second CPR test. Learning CPR through one of these kiosks is what saved Sean’s life. Matt was Sean’s classmate. One day as Sean was leaving school, he was struck by lighting which then put him under cardiac arrest. No one knew what to do but Sean did. During one of Matt’s recent travels, he had an layover. During that layover, he learned hands only CPR through on of these kiosks. Matt was able to perform CPR on Sean while paramedics arrived, and Sean was able to survive that incident. One of AHA’s goal is to encourage people to learn CPR. It is such a simple procedure that can help save many lives.

As of 2012, the AHA has started what they call the mobile tours. These mobile tours have so far reached as many as 22 states. They are vehicles that travel around the US to teach the importance of performing CPR and actually train people on how to perform it as well. The AHA describes this experience as fun and very interactive. So far, they have been able to train more than 84,000 people across the US, and that’s just within the 22 states. Their main goal is to tour all of the United States eventually, so that more people can be educated on this procedure.

Overall, The American Heart Association has done so much to battle heart disease. Being able to reach out to so many people about the importance of learning about heart disease and ways to prevent it from happening is a great accomplishment. Their dedication in also helping people learn about ways they can help people who might suffer a heart attack or stroke has lead to saving people’s lives. They truly embody what a non profit organization should be.

References

• American Heart Association | To be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. (2019). Retrieved May 1, 2019
• IRS Data for American Heart Association. (2018, June 12). Retrieved May 3, 2019
• IRS.gov Applications. (2018, June 30). Retrieved April 28, 2019
• Should Board Members of Nonprofit Organizations Be Compensated? (2018, May 23). Retrieved May 6, 2019