Did you know the City of Southlake offers CPR and AED courses? The Southlake Fire Department is a certified American Heart Association training site and teaches classes to the public. The department uses the American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR/AED certification course, which is a classroom, video-based, instructor-led course that teaches adult, child and infant CPR and AED use, as well as how to relieve choking. This course is for anyone with limited or no medical training. It can meet the needs for those needing a course completion card to meet job, regulatory, or other requirements. The courses educate the facts and statistics on AEDs and also provides a demonstration. The American Heart Association and the University of Washington have identified several facts regarding AEDs and their use: they're easy to use, they can be used on adults, children, and infants, and usage within the first three minutes of sudden cardiac arrest can increase survival rates over 80%. Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is present in almost 90% of adult cardiac arrest and the only way to stop VF is with a defibrillator. A sudden cardiac arrest victim losses 7-10% chance at survival for every minute an AED is not used. The City of Southlake has Paramedics and AED capability on all fire apparatuses. The city also has community access AEDs on patrol units and in all of the city buildings. AED units are available during operating hours at Town Hall, Public Works, Fire Station 1 (DPS Headquarters), Fire Station 2 (DPS West), Fire Station 3 (DPS Training Facility), Bob Jones Park, Bob Jones Nature Center, North Park, Bicentennial Park, The Marq – Legends Hall, and Champions Club. It should be no shock that we have these AEDs in our facilities. These units undergo regular scheduled maintenance to ensure proper operation. The Southlake Fire Department continues to work to maintain the highest level of care for its community. Other businesses and community partners have AEDs in their facilities and employees trained to use those units. The Southlake Fire Department encourages you to become CPR and AED trained and possibly one day save a life. If you would like to register for a class please contact Renni Burt at 817-748-8349 or by email at rburt@ci.southlake.tx.us.
