Learn CPR before Chicago Fire game Aug. 24

WHAT:

Illinois Heart Rescue and the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System will offer free instruction in compression-only CPR at Toyota Park before the Aug. 24 Chicago Fire game. Compression-only CPR is simple to learn and the best way to help save the life of someone in sudden cardiac arrest.

“Increasing rates of bystander CPR is where the greatest increases in survival will come from,” says Dr. Marina Del Rios, assistant professor of emergency medicine in the UIC College of Medicine and physician leader of the community sphere for Illinois Heart Rescue, a statewide initiative to increase survival for out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. “Studies have shown that providing just chest compressions alone can double the person’s chance of survival.”

WHEN:

Wednesday, Aug. 24

5:00 to 7:30 p.m., before the Chicago Fire plays the LA Galaxy.

WHERE:

Toyota Park, 71st Street and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, Illinois.

DETAILS:

Illinois Heart Rescue is a statewide volunteer effort of EMS professionals, physicians, nurses, community groups, hospitals and governmental agencies working to double survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest in Illinois. Dr. Terry Vanden Hoek, head of emergency medicine at UI Health, is the primary investigator. The program is sponsored by a $2.5 million grant from Medtronic Philanthropy.

Sudden cardiac arrest, where the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating, affects approximately 420,000 people in the U.S. each year and 6 million people worldwide, claiming more lives than stroke, lung cancer, breast cancer and AIDS combined. Since Illinois Heart Rescue launched in 2013, survival for sudden cardiac arrest in Illinois has jumped from 2 percent to 12 percent.

Participants will receive free Illinois Heart Rescue phone covers, CPR bracelets and CPR fans.

For more information on Illinois Heart Rescue visit http://illinoisheartrescue.com/