By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
The city has officially met the state Department of Public Health’s requirements for designation as a HEARTSafe Community, Mayor Dorinda Borer announced.
In a recent letter to Borer, DPH Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani congratulated the mayor on West Haven’s achievement.
“This three-year re-designation recognizes your community’s continued commitment to provide improved cardiac response and care to the residents of your community utilizing the ‘Chain of Survival’ of early 9-1-1 access, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, defibrillation and advanced care,” Juthani wrote.
Borer said: “Receiving this designation from Commissioner Juthani is a testament to our first responders, health officials and residents who prioritize lifesaving readiness. In West Haven, we are continually finding creative ways to train and make tools accessible to our residents so that, as a community, together we are equipped to act swiftly and effectively.”
Borer lauded Emergency Management Director Rick Fontana for his lifesaving training initiatives and for taking the lead for the city.
To date, Fontana has trained more than 1,200 people in lifesaving measures, including hands-only CPR, how to use an automated external defibrillator and administering the nasal spray Narcan, which can reverse a drug overdose.
Those trained so far include city employees, such as lifeguards, as well as residents and employees of West Haven’s public housing complexes and members of large service clubs, condominium complexes and churches.
“We have created a bit of a road show and have gone out to spread the word to as many residents as we can reach,” Borer said. “You never know when you may need to know how to use an AED, perform CPR or use Narcan. Each person trained received a Narcan kit, the brand name for a device that delivers naloxone, the opioid-overdose antidote.”
In addition to training, many of those locations received an AED that was purchased through a grant that Borer obtained when she was a state representative. Previously, the city had expired or limited AEDs in public spaces, the mayor noted.
But last summer, Fontana changed all that and installed AEDs at parks, athletic fields and municipal buildings across West Haven, Borer said.
The city’s map of AEDs and Narcan kits was also incorporated into the 911 Emergency Communications Center so dispatchers can determine if a kit is nearby.
Each Lifepak AED kit contains gloves, a face mask, scissors and a razor, along with a Narcan emergency overdose kit containing two 4-milligram nasal sprays. Each AED kit will soon contain a “stop the bleed” tourniquet as well.
The city Health Department has also played a role in bringing awareness by leading community walks through its Wellness in Motion series and providing free blood pressure screenings for employees and residents.
The DPH Office of Emergency Medical Services’ HEARTSafe Program, in collaboration with the American Heart Association, is aimed at helping Connecticut’s municipalities, workplaces and campuses improve the chances of survival for anyone having a sudden cardiac arrest.
The HEARTSafe designation is awarded to municipalities, workplaces and campuses that demonstrate excellence in four critical areas of cardiac care: CPR training; public access to defibrillation through the strategic placement of AEDs; individuals who are CPR and AED trained and equipped; and early advanced care.
Juthani further praised Borer for West Haven’s lifesaving efforts.
“We commend you on your efforts to continue to save lives and improve the health of your community.”
According to statistics compiled by the heart association, about 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the U.S., averaging nearly 1,000 per day.
Roughly 70% of those cases happen at home, with an estimated 90% of the prehospital cardiac arrests being fatal and a survival rate to hospital discharge of less than 10%.
The data also shows that bystander CPR is provided in about 22.8% of cardiac arrest cases, with the survival rate to hospital discharge for nontraumatic etiology, bystander-witnessed cardiac arrest in Connecticut at about 9.5%.
For more information on local CPR and AED training or to find the nearest public AED, visit the city’s website.
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