02/22/2023

Association Launches CPR Training Program for Minority Communities

This initiative is designed to bring training to diverse meeting spaces

A leading medical association has launched a grassroots initiative to address troubling trends concerning cardiac health among Black and Hispanic Americans. Be the Beat, an initiative of the American Heart Association (AHA), is designed to educate members of those communities on life-saving CPR techniques. Be the Beat was announced Feb. 1 to coincide with the beginning of Black History Month.

According to AHA, research shows that Black and Hispanic adults experiencing cardiac arrest are less likely to receive care from a bystander, and that Black Americans are 25 percent less likely than other racial and ethnic groups to receive CPR in a home. Dr. Kendra Outler, a board-certified anesthesiologist who works with AHA on community outreach programs, including Be the Beat, said that less education around CPR and disproportionate levels of advanced heart disease among those communities prompted the initiative.

“The Be the Beat campaign can hopefully allow for more education and less intimidation around doing CPR,” she said.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.