I’m excited to announce that, in coordination with Sudden Cardiac Awareness Month, AHA has launched a new web-based video, “Rules of Hands-Only CPR,” featuring the cast of the CBS hit series “Rules of Engagement!”

Cast members of the show, Adhir Kalyan, Bianca Kajlich, Megyn Price, Oliver Hudson and Patrick Warburton, star in the AHA’s new Hands-Only CPR video, which you can see here. “Rules of Hands-Only CPR” imagines a casual dinner conversation between two couples as they discuss the reasons for learning Hands-Only CPR. Newly engaged sweethearts, Adam & Jennifer (Oliver Hudson, Bianca Kajlich) assist their enthusiastic friend Audrey (Megyn Price) in teaching her macho husband, Jeff (Patrick Warburton), the simple steps to save a life.  Just as the scene is coming to a close, Timmy (Adhir Kalyan) bursts in in his finest white disco suit.

We hope you will use this new Hands-Only video asset to continue raising awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month (October) and the AHA’s 2012 Hands-Only CPR campaign.

Enjoy!

The second leg of the AHA’s Hands-Only CPR Mobile Tour kicked off last week in Sacramento with stops at the State Capitol Building, the Department of Health Care Services and the Wells Fargo corporate headquarters, where we trained more than 800 people how to perform the simple steps of Hands-Only CPR following the beat of “Stayin’ Alive.” In the state capital, the tour celebrated our biggest event to date, with over 700 trained at the Department of Health Care Services alone!

 Before rolling south into San Francisco, we visited the Hewitt Packard headquarters in Palo Alto, where we trained nearly 400 employees. The day featured important survivor stories from Marcia Mills and Ken Byk and strong support from the Palo Alto Fire Department.

In San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza, we held two sessions, training more than 130 people. We enjoyed an enthusiastic crowd and amazing support from the San Francisco Fire Department and American Medical Response. Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Fire Medical Director Dr. Clement Yeh addressed the crowd, as did survivor Ken Byk and AMR’s Mike Padro, one of Ken’s rescuers (Ken and Mike met for the first time today!). Check out this excellent clip from the CBS affiliate, KPIX, to see Dr. Kim Mulvihill’s coverage of the event, as well as her disco moves!  http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/7766516-healthwatch-disco-rhythm-key-in-effective-cpr/

 After stops at Oracle’s headquarters and the Richmond Civic Center tomorrow, we’ll make our way to Los Angeles and San Diego. We’ll continue to provide you updates along the way as we show the Golden State our disco moves, including how to keep “Stayin’ Alive” with Hands-Only CPR!

 I wanted to share with you an incredible story that shows how the message of the AHA’s Hands-Only CPR campaign is helping save lives. In late August, Major League Baseball umpire Jim Joyce used CPR to rescue a woman who’d suffered cardiac arrest at an Arizona Diamondbacks game. Joyce said that as he administered these lifesaving steps, he sang the song that is the centerpiece of our Hands-Only campaign, “Stayin’ Alive.” The AHA recommends this Bee Gees hit because its tempo – at about 100 beats per minute – is an ideal pace for providing chest compressions. Read more about this story of survival at the MLB website!

This July, as we enter into our seventh year of the Laerdal Medical/AHA Strategic Alliance, it is my great pleasure to announce that Laerdal has awarded the AHA an additional $1.85 million grant to be used over the next four years of the Alliance. This grant will help to fund various CPR Anytime™ projects, as well as support Community CPR Manager positions through our AHA affiliates. Laerdal had previously committed more than $1.5 million for more than three years of program funding.

Since 2007, nearly one million CPR Anytime kits have been distributed through the work of the Alliance. Thanks to the diligence of the Community CPR Managers and the support of affiliate and Alliance partners, a record 146,000 kits were placed during fiscal year 2012. With a research-proven training multiplier of 2.5 people trained per kit, we can estimate that almost 2.5 million people have been trained in lifesaving CPR skills through CPR Anytime.

Our Strategic Alliance with Laerdal has been key to many AHA successes, both domestically and internationally. On behalf of the AHA, I want to express appreciation to our partner for their continued commitment and dedication to our mission. Our work with Laerdal, through global CPR Anytime programs and innovative technologies such as eSimulation, helps AHA extend its reach to diverse audiences, increasing the number of people trained in CPR and advanced life support and ultimately, increasing the number of lives saved through these interventions.

Please join me in thanking Laerdal Medical for their collaboration, passion and ongoing support.

AHA is making headway toward CPR training becoming a high-school graduation requirement in all states! I’m excited to report that both Tennessee and Minnesota have recently passed or strengthened legislation for students to receive this lifesaving training while in school.

After passing the Tennessee legislature with overwhelming support, Governor Bill Haslam signed Senate Bill 1680, the Carmen Burnette Act of 2012.  This act strengthens the state’s CPR as a graduation requirement by assuring that all students will receive CPR training that includes hands-on practice and skills testing to support learning, as opposed to merely cognitive training.

In Minnesota, the AHA’s You’re the Cure network did an incredible job assuring their voices were heard and, as a result of their tireless efforts, the lifesaving CPR in Schools initiative is now law in Minnesota. Over the last three months, nearly 900 messages were sent to legislators, the Governor was presented with more than 1200 petitions, more than 100 meetings were held with advocates and legislators, more than 50 calls were placed to the Governor’s office and countless media stories ran throughout the state to stressing the urgency and importance of the CPR in Schools bill. Governor Mark Dayton signed the CPR in Schools bill into law, which will result in the creation of generations of lifesavers in land of ten thousand lakes!

Let’s keep the momentum going! Please join the CPR in schools movement by signing up at the campaign website, BeCPRSmart.org, where you can show your support, read incredible stories of survival and even add your own story.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Japan Circulation Society’s special session to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of CPR worldwide and the 20^th anniversary of CPR in Japan.

This event was held as part of the 76^th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japan Circulation Society Resuscitation Science Symposium in Fukuoka, Japan. Presentations were given by Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawamura and Dr. Katsuhiko Hiramori, who were the first cardiologists to introduce CPR education to Hyogo and Iwate prefectures in Japan.

The session closed with awards presented to both pioneers from Dr. Takeshi Kimura, Chair of the JCS ECC Committee and from Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, President of the AHA, and to the group of volunteers at the JCS. Following the session, I also gave awards to each of the following 15 AHA Volunteers from the JCS to celebrate their lifesaving work in emergency cardiovascular care:

 

Hiroshi Nonogi, MD, PhD

Hiroyuki Hanada, MD, PhD

Tetsuya Sakamoto, MD, PhD

Chokoh Genka, MD, PhD

Migaku Kikuchi, MD, PhD

Hironori Saito, MD

Hiromi Seo, MD, PhD

Shuichi Suzuki, MD, PhD

Hiroshi Takahashi, MD, PhD

Yoshiaki Tomobuchi, MD

Hiroyuki Yokoyama, MD, PhD

Nobutaka Hirai, MD

Toshikazu Funazaki, MD, PhD

Toshihiko Mayumi, MD, PhD

 

Also during my trip to Japan, Dr. Tomaselli and AHA staff Michael Hulley and I attended the 10^th Citizen Education Seminar, where approximately 700 Fukuoka citizens learned about the dangers of smoking and the importance of learning CPR.

Following this seminar, we observed 100 citizens learn Hands-Only CPR using the AHA’s CPR Anytime kit, which they were able to take home so they can pass on this lifesaving skill to their loved ones.

From the Symposium to the CPR training it was an incredibly successful trip, and I am looking forward to the advances we can make with our Japanese partners in the future.