Photo Credit: American Heart Association
February is American Heart Month, and this year, the American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focusing on heart and brain health, is encouraging every family in St. Louis and across the country to “Be the Beat” by learning Hands-Only CPR. Locally, the Association is offering a variety of opportunities for the public to learn this life saving skill throughout the month, starting with a kick-off on Wear Red Day on Friday, February 3. In addition to lighting St. Louis red and asking community members to wear red in support of heart health, a community-wide Hands-Only CPR training event will also be held.
Knowing Hands-Only CPR and being able to perform it is a skill that saves lives each day. Each year, more than 350,000 EMS-assessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur across the country. When a person has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby.
“About 90 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die,” Jennifer Jaeger, Executive Director of the American Heart Association in St. Louis said. “The results of CPR, especially if performed immediately, are staggering. In fact, it can double, or even triple, a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.”
Hands-Only CPR is CPR without breaths in two easy steps: 1) Call 911; and 2) push hard and fast in the center of the chest to a beat of 100-120 beats per minute. Hesitancy to perform CPR is often due to a perceived lack of training or knowledge. Approximately 3 in 10 people are unfamiliar with the Good Samaritan Laws that exist to protect those acting in good faith, are concerned with hurting someone, and/or afraid of legal consequences.
Prioritizing Mental Well-Being in Kids
Before children are born, we worry about their health. Does everything look healthy on the ultrasound? Am I making the right decision in choosing formula over breastfeeding? Are they eating enough vegetables? Do they get enough exercise? The lists of worries go on and on. And while what our kids eat and how much they exercise are important for good health, another area we should focus on as parents is their mental wellbeing.
Studies suggest mental health is important to overall health but what exactly is mental-wellbeing? Mental well-being includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act and also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Stress may seem like something that children don’t deal with. However, childhood stress can be present in any setting that requires the child to adapt or change and is more common than we may think.
By teaching our kids to cope with stress and prioritize their mental well-being at a young age, we can help them be healthier adults. Here are 3 easy ways you can help your kids build healthy habits to improve their minds and their hearts:
- Teach your children to practice mindfulness by focusing on breathing. In stressful situations, encourage them take a deep breath and close their eyes. Practicing mindfulness has many benefits like improving sleep and attitude.
- Teach your children to practice mindfulness by focusing on breathing. In stressful situations, encourage them take a deep breath and close their eyes. Practicing mindfulness has many benefits like improving sleep and attitude.
- Teach your children to practice mindfulness by focusing on breathing. In stressful situations, encourage them take a deep breath and close their eyes. Practicing mindfulness has many benefits like improving sleep and attitude.
As we all know, it takes a village to instill healthy habits like this for our children. That’s why the American Heart Association is working in schools across the nation to teach children about mindfulness and mental well-being. Through the Association’s Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge programs, schools are equipped with
tools and activities to support both mental and physical well-being for students, families and staff.
Parents and schools in St. Louis who are interested in bringing the American Heart Association’s in-school programs to their children should visit heart.org/schools