Latest news with #CompressandShock
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Compress and Shock Foundation offers free CPR and AED usage training during CPR awareness week
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — As a part of national CPR awareness week, several local healthcare systems partnered with the Roanoke-based Compress and Shock Foundation to host free educational opportunities to equip the public with the skills to save a life. LewisGale Regional Health System partnered with the foundation to host a class at First Baptist Church in Roanoke that taught around 40 participants. 'Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time,' said Jennifer Herriot-Trejo, director of Hispanic outreach for the Compress and Shock Foundation. 'It does not discriminate based on age, race, anything.' Several volunteers, including a few LewisGale nurses, helped to lead small-group training sessions, where participants were able to practice the skills they had been taught. 'I've always had a passion for cardiac patients and it's great to be able to bring this to the community and teach the community how to save lives and make a difference in someone's life one person at a time,' said LewisGale nurse Heather Snyder. The Compress and Shock Foundation offers free CPR and AED usage training, and as part of their 'education day,' on Saturday, they were active across Virginia and around the country alongside regional health partners. Compress & Shock Foundation hosting health fair on CPR and AED awareness LewisGale's parent company, HCA Healthcare, has invested $40,000 into Compress and Shock, which has allowed the foundation to increase the accessibility of AEDs. After Saturday's class in Roanoke, the partnership between Compress and Shock and HCA Healthcare had provided 15 AEDs to a number of communities, with hopes of supplying 10 more by the end of 2025. '[AEDs] need to be in schools, they need to be in churches, they need to be in sports clubs,' said Herriot-Trejo. 'They need to be accessible so that people are prepared for when something happens. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.' Saturday's class was taught bilingually, another component of Compress and Shock's mission to make the knowledge and skills to save a life accessible by all members of the community. According to Herriot-Trejo, non-English speakers often miss out on learning the critical information because of the language barrier. 'We just want to meet people where they are and get things into the languages that they understand,' said Herriot-Trejo. 'So that if they do need to activate their emergency response systems, they're going to feel adequately prepared because they've received that knowledge in their language.' Compress and Shock also partnered with Carilion Clinic to host an education day in Christiansburg. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Local organization working to increase accessibility of CPR training, AEDs
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Michael Taylor Monk was playing basketball when his heart suddenly stopped, but his gym did not have an AED. Monk's friends gave him CPR until EMS arrived and were able to restart his heart. They saved his life, and now Monk is an advocate for the Compress and Shock Foundation, a physician-led organization dedicated to providing free CPR and AED education. 'We just want to save as many lives as possible,' said Monk. 'I mean, I feel like personally within myself, I owe it to any and all victims that I can possibly save in the future because somebody knew what to do when it happened to me. I want the next person to have that same opportunity.' Feeding Southwest Virginia partners with USPS for 'Stamp Out Hunger' Sudden cardiac arrest happens when there is a sudden loss of all heart activity. It often leads to death without immediate CPR and electric shocks from an AED. The current survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest is less than 10 percent. 'Most of the news that we deliver in cardiac arrest is bad news,' said Dr. Jack Perkins, Executive Director of the Compress and Shock Foundation. 'And I'm always thinking, what could have been?' That is why the Compress and Shock foundation is trying to prepare people for what to do in these life-and-death situations. 'Almost uniformly, that person has not received CPR before paramedics get there, and nobody has put an AED on them,' said Perkins. 'That story could be exactly like [Monk's], had bystanders intervened.' The goal is to get AEDs in public places, especially in underserved communities, in addition to CPR training. 'We are going to have more stories like [Monk's], with not only CPR training, but more people thinking about, 'Why don't I have a defibrillator in my place of business? Why not in my home?' The Compress and Shock foundation is holding public training in several locations in our area on Saturday, June 7. You can sign up for the free training or get more information at the foundation's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
