By Trampes Stancil
Special to The Clayton Tribune
Hands Only CPR
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and is a top cause of premature deaths in Rabun County. Every year, more than 28,000 people die of heart disease in Georgia.
In 2022, over 702,000 people died from heart disease in the United States. Many of these deaths are the result of a sudden cardiac arrest. The American Heart Association defines sudden cardiac arrest as “the abrupt loss of heart function in a person who may or may not have been diagnosed with heart disease.”
Sudden cardiac arrest is most often caused by an electrical malfunction in the heart known as Venticular Fibrillation (VF). In VF, the heart’s lower chambers suddenly start beating chaotically and doesn’t pump blood. The leading cause of VF is heart attack, specifically the “Widow Maker.” This occurs when the largest artery supplying blood to the heart muscle becomes blocked and it can interrupt up to 70 percent of blood flow to the heart. As the name implies, this Widow Maker occurs predominantly in men and can happen suddenly without previous symptoms.
When cardiac arrest occurs, irreversible brain damage and death can occur within about 4-6 minutes. The nationwide survival rate of cardiac arrest is about 7-10 percent. If cardiac arrest victims receive chest compressions and potential cardiac defibrillation within the first few minutes, their chance of survival increases exponentially. Studies consistently show that bystanders or lay rescuers can perform adequate compression only CPR and operate an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) with very minimal training. This finding has increased the number of people who are comfortable providing the compressions, increased available rescuers in the community, and increased survival rates of out of hospital cardiac arrest.
Public access to AEDs has also increased dramatically. In Rabun County, we have had a tremendous buy in and support from churches, civic groups, private individuals, and our local government to place AEDs in many places where larger groups of people gather.
This support includes training in compression only CPR and has already benefited Rabun County residents. This has increased cardiac arrest survival rate in our county and there are residents alive today due to these actions.
Please join others on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. at the Rabun County Health Department, 184 South Main Street, lower level, for free training in Compression Only CPR and AED. If you would like additional information in training for groups or acquiring AEDs, please email at: trampes.stancil@rabuncounty.ga.gov.
Trampes Stancil is the captain of Rabun County Emergency Medical Services and an instructor with The American Heart Association.