Free CPR Classes During San Ramon Valley High School Football Game

By Bay City News—

While San Ramon Valley High School football players focus on protecting the ball, attendees at tonight's games will have the chance to learn how to protect and save lives.

In honor of National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Month, the San Ramon Valley HeartSafe Committee will provide hands-only CPR training and teach how to use an automated external defibrillator, or AED, at the high school's junior varsity and varsity football games, according to San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District spokeswoman Kim French. Event organizers say more than 300,000 Americans suffer from sudden cardiac arrest each year, so giving more people the tools to save lives is critical.

"CPR is something everyone should learn, like riding a bike or learning to swim," said Joe Farrell, a member of the San Ramon Valley HeartSafe committee and a sudden cardiac arrest survivor.

"I was fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time to save someone using CPR and then just a year later to have someone else use their knowledge of CPR to save me," Farrell said.

The training sessions will be held from halftime of the junior varsity game through halftime of the varsity game in a tent near the football field at the school's stadium at 501 Danville Blvd. in Danville.

The free training is part of ongoing efforts to promote cardiac safety by the HeartSafe Committee, which is composed of representatives from the fire district, the city of San Ramon, town of Danville, San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Contra Costa County Emergency Medical Services and other community members, French said. Their efforts appear to be paying off, since those who experienced sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting in the San Ramon Valley last year had a 17.9 percent chance of survival -- more than double the national survival rate of 8.5 percent, according to a Contra Costa County Emergency Medical Services report. 

"We are very proud of our cardiac arrest survival statistics," San Ramon Valley Fire Chief Paige Meyer said. "We attribute our success to many factors, including our community outreach program that teaches hands-only CPR to over 2,000 residents each year at community events."

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