Porter Fire CPR

Porter Fire Dept. will be instructing a CPR Healthcare Provider class December 8th, at 9am. Please call 219-926-1226 for more information.

CPR, or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, is a combination of rescue breathing (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) and chest compressions. If someone isn't breathing or circulating blood adequately, CPR can restore circulation of oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Without oxygen, permanent brain damage or death can occur in less than 8 minutes.

• Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in adults. Most arrests occur in persons with underlying heart disease.
• 75% of all cardiac arrests happen in people's homes.
• If CPR is started within 4 minutes of collapse and defibrillation provided within 10 minutes a person has a 40% chance of survival.
• The typical victim of cardiac arrest is a man in his early 60's and a woman in her late 60's.
• CPR was invented in 1960
• There has never been a case of HIV transmitted by mouth-to-mouth CPR.
• In sudden cardiac arrest the heart goes from a normal heartbeat to a quivering rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF). This happens in approximately 2/3rds of all cardiac arrests. VF is fatal unless an electric shock, called defibrillation, can be given. CPR does not stop VF but CPR extends the window of time in which defibrillation can be effective.
• CPR provides a trickle of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart and keeps these organs alive until defibrillation can shock the heart into a normal rhythm.
• CPR doubles a person's chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest.

• Cardiac arrest occurs twice as frequently in men compared to women.

If you are interested in learning and becoming certified in CPR, please give us a call at (219)926-1226 or stop by the station.