To help save more lives threatened by sudden cardiac arrest, Parent Heart Watch and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, along with multiple partners, urge the public to learn CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) during Heart Month this February.
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a public health crisis— affecting more than 356,000 people outside hospitals each year, including over 7,000 youth under age 18—but death can be averted if people nearby act quickly. Today, only one in 10 victims survives, but with immediate CPR and use of an AED, survival rates can triple.
To address this public health crisis, Parent Heart Watch and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation last year launched the Call-Push-Shock campaign, urging the public to learn CPR and how to use an AED. Since then, many other organizations have joined the initiative. Together, they urge the public to prepare for sudden cardiac arrest, the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Participating organizations include Louis J. Acompora Memorial Foundation, John Taylor Babbitt Foundation, Buddy CPR, Cardiac Science, Cardio Partners, Citizen CPR Foundation, Defibshop, Enerspect Medical Solutions, HeartBeat NOLA, HeartRescue Project, HeartStart, Illinois Heart Rescue, In A Heartbeat, Laerdal, Life Safety Solutions, National Safety Council, One Beat CPR + AED, Project ADAM, PulsePoint, SADS Foundation, Starting Hearts Foundation, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association/Anthony Bates Foundation, and ZOLL Medical Corporation.
“Through the Call-Push-Shock campaign, we aim to convey a simple message: Sudden cardiac arrest can be reversed with quick bystander action," said Mary M. Newman, MS, president of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation.
The campaign urges the public to remember these lifesaving steps:
- Call: Call 911 and follow dispatcher instructions.
- Push: Press hard and fast on the center of the chest at a rate of 100-120 beats per minute to the beat of the Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive.”
- Shock: Use the nearest AED as soon as possible. AEDs are lifesaving devices with audio and visual prompts that are designed for use by laypersons.
The Call-Push-Shock campaign leverages results of a national study conducted for the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation by global consumer research firm StrataVerve. Findings indicate most Americans are unfamiliar with sudden cardiac arrest and the critical importance of immediate bystander intervention. However, when presented with a clear explanation of SCA, both the perceived importance of learning CPR and AED skills—and the likelihood to give CPR or use an AED in an emergency—jump significantly.
“There is a critical need to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest, educate people about the importance of taking immediate action, and empower communities to provide CPR training and widespread access to AEDs,” said Martha Lopez-Anderson, executive director of Parent Heart Watch. “By working together, rather than in silos, we believe we can truly make a difference in the urgent quest to save more lives.
The Call-Push-Shock campaign aligns with the 2015 recommendations of the Institute of Medicine, now known as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, to strengthen stakeholder collaboration and cultivate a culture of action through public awareness and training that features simple, unified messaging.
The two sponsors and their partners urge interested parties to visit Call-Push-Shock to learn more, and to help raise awareness during Heart Month by sharing information through their social media channels using the hashtag #CallPushShock.
For information or to join the campaign, reach out to contact [at] callpushshock.org (contact(at)callpushshock.org).