American Heart Association launches new holiday gift campaign

Lewiston Porter Sentinel, December 2, 2006

Each year, cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac arrests claim the lives of 335,000 Americans before they reach a hospital. In an effort to help save more of the lives lost to sudden cardiac arrest, the American Heart Association is launching a new, product based holiday gift campaign in hopes of encouraging people to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The campaign will promote Family and Friends CPR Anytime as an ideal gift for the holidays.

CPR Anytime is a self-directed, personal CPR kit that makes learning the core skills of CPR easy, convenient, affordable and fun for the entire family. Each kit contains a 22-minute CPR skills practice DVD, personal CPR mannequin, accessories and resource booklet featuring information on child CPR, choking and automated external defibrillators.

“Approximately 80 percent of sudden cardiac arrests occur in and around the home,” says Monica Kleinman, M.D., chair of the AHA’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee. “So, chances are, if you are called on to perform CPR, it’s going to be to save the life of a loved one, and we want people to be prepared for that.”

For more information on Family and Friends CPR Anytime, call the American Heart Association at 1-877-AHA-4CPR or visit www.cpranytime.org.