Baltimore County Shows You How to Save a Life With Your Bare Hands

On Jan. 28, David Efron went out for about 20 minutes to get his barbecue grill’s propane tank refilled. When he returned home, his wife, Anne, was unresponsive in their home’s family room.

Efron, the director of trauma at Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Department of Surgery, called 911 and performed CPR until EMS personnel arrived.

Wednesday morning, the Efrons joined Baltimore County Fire, EMS and elected officials in at the Baltimore County Fire station in Reisterstown to announce a new program, “Lend a Hand, Save a Life,” which aims to raise CPR awareness and teach hands-only CPR.

“These brave men and women are not always there at the scene when a crisis hits,” Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said, referring to the EMS personnel. He was joined by Councilmen Ken Oliver and Tom Quirk.

Hands-only CPR doesn’t involve mouth-to-mouth, and has three simple steps:

1. Call 911.
2. Push hard and fast on the center of the chest.
3. If possible, use a portable defibrillator, also known as an AED

(Source: Baltimore County)

“Hands-only CPR…can dramatically increase the number of people we save each year,” Andrew Pollak, the medical director of the Baltimore County Fire Department.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States each year, claiming the lives of 350,000 Americans annually. When cardiac arrest occurs, the heart stops pumping blood. CPR can restore some blood to the brain and heart until normal heart function is restored, according to a press release.

Baltimore has launched an online resource and will be offering trainings around the county.  The Baltimore County Fire-Rescue Academy offers monthly CPR classes that are open to the public. Baltimore County has installed AEDs in all public schools and county buildings through Project Heartbeat, its public access defibrillator program (PAD). Private businesses and organization can begin their own PAD by calling the EMS section at 410-887-4860.