Granby, Mass.—Granby, Massachusetts has been named a "HeartSafe Community" by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Department of Emergency Medical Services, meaning that it is well-equipped to save lives in cases of cardiac arrest.
Communities earn points for the designation based on whether they fit the criteria in terms of technology, emergency responders and CPR training for laypeople.
"You overachievers got 95 points!" Stephen J. Cote, public education director Western Massachusetts Emergency Medical Services, told his audience in a recent ceremony at the Fire Department of the Public Safety Complex in Granby.
A town of Granby's 6,281 population only needs 50 points to be called HeartSafe, said Cote.
"You're protecting your neighbors and your families," he told his audience.
Cote gave Fire Chief Russ Anderson posters that can be placed at the entrances of the town to announce the designation.
Cote said the HeartSafe program exists in 28 states and three other countries: Ireland, Norway and New Zealand.
Though the numbers change every day, almost half of Massachusetts cities and towns are now termed HeartSafe, according to Cote, including 33 in Western Massachusetts. Such "communities" as Six Flags have also earned the HeartSafe designation.
Cote said the HeartSafe program is based on four critical steps that comprise a "chain of survival." They are: early access to emergency care, usually provided by bystanders who are familiar with the symptoms of cardiac arrest and who dial 9-1-1; early CPR, early defibrillation and early advanced care by paramedics. Quick action makes the likelihood of survival much higher, said Cote.
The first HeartSafe city in Massachusetts was Pittsfield, which received its designation in 2004.
SOURCE: The Republican