HANDS-ONLY
By Lee Martin
Over the past several months, Local 935 members Robert
Marquez, Sergio Mora, Jeff Allen and Lee Martin have been
conducting American Heart Association Hands-Only CPR
classes across several divisions of County Fire’s jurisdiction.
These classes have taken place at multiple churches, The
Daily Press newspaper in Victorville, the City of Upland
offices, Cobalt Institute of Math and Science, and a Girl Scout
troop at Fire Station 9 in Mentone. Meanwhile Division 4 in
the south desert is being led by Captain Jett Schuster and
Engineer Aaron Comstock, with one class scheduled to be
held in Joshua Tree and additional locations being planned.
The members that are assisting with teaching have been
conducting the trainings on their days off to keep other
members from being force hired behind them. Currently over
200 people have been trained in this life-saving technique
and we have multiple similar classes in the process of being
scheduled for the High Desert Nutritional Association and
for the City of Fontana.
Hands-only CPR is an easy, effective way for any bystander,
especially if they act immediately, to double or triple a
cardiac arrest victim’s chances of survival. Over 70 percent
of all cardiac arrests happen out of a hospital setting. This
type of CPR can be administered on teens and adults by
bystanders until emergency crews arrive, and has proven
just as effective as traditional CPR in the first few minutes
of an individual collapsing. The American Heart Association
still recommends CPR with compressions and breaths for
infants, children, victims of drowning, drug overdoses, and
people who collapse due to breathing problems. The main
goal of hands-only CPR is to keep blood moving. Individuals
are taught hand placement then to push hard and fast at a
rate of 100-120 compressions per minute. The whole process
takes between two to three minutes per person so large
groups move through the learning process rather quickly.
Hands-only CPR works in conjunction with the Pulse Point
App that was rolled out earlier this year. This app pulls your
location and will notify you of a cardiac arrest patient that
is in a public place along with the closest registered AED
unit. This app has empowered the lay responder to step up
and help if they feel the need to do so, and is another great
example of Local 935 members working with the community
to keep our residents safe and prepared.
Lee Martin is an engineer at Station 322 in Adelanto
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FIREWIRE • FALL 2018
HANDS-ONLY
CPR
San Bernardino County
Firefighters are offering
valuable training that
could help save a life
• More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac
arrests happen in the United States each year
• Survival depends on immediately receiving CPR
• Immediate CPR can double or triple
chances of survival
• Seventy percent of out-of-hospital
CPR happens in the home
• 46 percent of people receive immediate CPR
• Hands-Only CPR shown to be as
effective as conventional CPR
• Takes 2-4 minutes to learn
LEARN CPR • GET THE APP • SAVE A LIFE
Contact: Engineer Lee Martin
[email protected] • 760-981-8164
www.sbcfire.org/Programs/PulsePoint.aspx
FALL 2018 • FIREWIRE
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