SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — As we approach the high-intensity summer months and pool opening season, water safety is of utmost importance. Local emergency officials say now would be a good time for families to start the process of updating their safety skills, instructions, and plans.
In Sarasota County, a CPR specialist is going into communities to teach residents how to help each other in case of an emergency.
So far, nearly a dozen classes have been held this year already with 216 people trained in bystander CPR.
At the Lakeshore Village Condominium community, around 20 neighbors took part in a hands-only CPR training program.
"We're really training people to act fast, call 911, push hard and fast in the center of the chest because for every minute that goes by, where CPR is delayed, the chance of survival goes down 10%," Emily Myers, an EMS quality and clinical coordinator for Sarasota County, said.
Myers said whether it's someone having a heart attack or someone who has been pulled from underwater, CPR can be the difference in whether that person survives the medical emergency.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen in locations other than a hospital setting in the U.S. annually. Many of those incidents happen at home and performing CPR can buy time until professional help arrives.
"It can be really scary for them, and this is their loved one, their spouse, maybe even their child so that's why it's so important for them to have these tools to know what to do and act fast," Myers said.
According to Myers, bystander CPR is a skill that can be useful, most especially when dealing with children around water.
"We have grandchildren here all the time and so that was really kind of a wake-up call is how different the CPR can be for a child if it's needed versus the adult," Laurie Pawlicki, a neighbor learning CPR, said.
According to county data, Sarasota leads the state and the nation in people having some kind of CPR training at 43.5%. Residents like Laurie Pawlicki took the initiative to call 311 to request the class for her community.
"Now we have all these people here in our community, if they happen to encounter a situation, they're prepared. They're prepared to save life," Pawlicki said.
The county's overall hospital survival rate from CPR is about 9.5% which is higher than the national average is 7%, according to Myers.
"We're really proud of that and we just want to continue these initiatives that we have and create awareness and again people feel prepared to know what to do," she said.
Sarasota County residents can call 311 or fill out a request for service form to schedule a CPR training session for their group.
You can also pick up a Water Watcher Badge at these various locations in Sarasota County.
- Sarasota Chamber of Commerce – 1945 Fruitville Road
- Longboat Key Fire Station 91 – 5490 Gulf of Mexico Drive
- Venice Fire Rescue Station 52 – 200 Grove Street North
- North Port Fire Station 81 – 4980 City Center Blvd.
- Sarasota Bradenton International Airport – 6000 Airport Circle