Wednesday, February 26, 2003

CPR Saturday this week

Fayette County High among the participating sites

March is traditionally recognized at Red Cross Month. What better way to celebrate than with an event that will provide more than 6,000 citizens with potentially livesaving skills?

The Metropolitan Atlanta Red Cross' annual CPR Saturday is set for March 1 at 15 sites, including three in Clayton, Fayette and Henry counties. Kaiser Permanente is serving as the primary sponsor for the seventh year in a row. This sponsorship allows Red Cross to provide the training for free.

Training in the lifesaving "Adult CPR" skills four hours. Successful completion of the class a skills demonstration and a short written test will result in Red Cross certification good for one year.

The Fayette County site will again be Fayette County High School, 1 Tiger Trail in Fayetteville. The Clayton site will be Forest Park High School, 5452 Phillips Drive in Forest Park. Kaiser Permanente, Henry Towne Center Medical Center, 1125 Towne Center Village Drive in McDonough will serve as the Henry County site. Childcare will not be provided and small children should not attend.

The first class at each site will start at 9 a.m. with new classes beginning approixmately every half-hour until the last session at 2 p.m. Early registration is encouraged. The training is usually suitable for ages 12 and up. Children must be strong enough to successfully perform chest compressions.

There are two ways to register. You can visit www.redcrossatlanta.org or call the South Metro Red Cross Service Center at 770-961-2552. General information is available by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

More than 6,400 people were trained last year, 1,200 of them at three south metro sites. Red Cross organizers are hoping to again train more than 6,000. CPR Saturday is always held in March to help commemorate Red Cross Month.

Ruben Brown, the director of the South Metro Red Cross Service Center, said CPR Saturday is one of the organization's biggest events of the year and serves to say thanks to the community for their year-round support.

"Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers are needed to make this work, and the planning began several months ago," he said. "The bottom line is this event makes our community a safer place to work and play."

Kaiser Permanente will again serve as the event's primary sponsor. "Our mission is to improve the health of the communities we serve. What better way to do that than by teaching people how to save lives," said Dr. Bruce Perry, M.D., medical director of the Southeast Permanente Medical Group/Kaiser Permanente. "CPR Saturday is a valuable community service that everyone should take advantage of."

Support for the event is also coming from AT&T Wireless, Boise Cascade Office Products, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coffee Time/Atlanta Vending, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, Mellow Mushroom, Publix and WSB-TV/Channel 2.

"Without the loyal support of Kaiser Permanente and our other wonderful sponsors, we could not offer this training for free," said Brown.

Aside from learning lifesaving CPR skills, participants will also learn rescue breathing techniques, the abdominal thrust procedure for choking victims and how to lead a healthier lifestyle.