Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake Donates Life Saving Training Equipment to Garrett County
According to statistics from the Garrett County Board of Health, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) accounted for 25% of the deaths in the County in 2011. Studies have shown that very few bystanders stop to offer assistance to victims of SCA. Many people say they are afraid they may do something wrong and cause harm or be sued. Others are concerned about doing the mouth to mouth breathing that is associated with traditional Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation or CPR. The Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake (POA) has donated equipment that will enable anyone to learn, in just 15 minutes, the skills needed to perform Hand-Only CPR— compressions without breaths —and to use an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). Even if an AED is not available, Hands-Only CPR can keep blood flowing to the heart and brain of a victim of SCA until Emergency Medical Responders arrive, thus greatly increasing his/her chance of survival.
Hands-Only CPR, a program that is growing by leaps and bounds nationally, can be taught by anyone without the need of a certified instructor. The idea and effort of bringing this type of training to Garrett County was a cooperative effort of the Board of Health, Board of Education, Garrett County Department of Emergency Management, Garrett County Memorial hospital, Garrett College, Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake, and Ms Beth Philipson, a summer lake resident from Baltimore, POA Member, registered nurse, American heart Association Certified CPR/AED Instructor, and a member of of the Cardiac Arrest Steering Committee at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Service System (MIEMSS). Ms Philipson spearheaded the proposal, offering to volunteer her time to get Hands-Only CPR to the entire Garrett County Community. Ms Philipson reached out to the POA to consider funding this worthwhile endeavor.
Studies have also shown that if CPR training is taken to people, instead of having people come to the training, the chances of introducing the life saving technique is vastly increased. Ms Philipson plans to make Hands- Only CPR available in group settings such as the up and coming Garrett County Health Fair, Garrett County Public Safety Day, after church in church parking lots, at organizational assemblies, golf courses or to anyone who asks, just to name a few. Garrett County Emergency Medical Services Associate Brad Frantz has committed to introducing Hands-Only CPR to the GC Senior High School Emergency Services Clubs and utilize the program as an Emergency Services Club project in pushing the technique out into the community. This equipment will also be used to teach HANDS ONLY CPR skills to all senior high students. At this time, the general assembly in Annapolis is considering a bill that would make learning Hands-Only CPR at requirement for high school graduation. Such laws already exist in 11 States in the U.S.
HANDS-ONLY CPR however is not a replacement for full CPR training which is required for Emergency First Responders and all medical services. It is also not effective for victims of drowning or victims of drug overdoses where these cases the cardiac arrest is usually a result of respiratory arrest.
The equipment that is being donated by the Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake to the County consists of 50 training manikins and 12 Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training devices. The equipment will be housed at Garrett College in the Continuing Education Department and will be made available to anyone who wants to conduct group training sessions.
This is yet another example of how the POA supports the entire community!
