A campaign to train Los Angeles County residents in several lifesaving skills, including hands-only CPR, using automated external defibrillators, stopping bleedings and administering medication to reverse overdoses was announced Monday.
The Community Readiness Champions Initiative will also teach how to identify, understand and respond to mental health emergencies, Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said at a news conference at the USC Health Sciences Campus in Boyle Heights.
“The aim of the Community Readiness Champions Initiative is to offer residents across all of our communities an opportunity to learn skills that we know can save the lives of a loved one, a neighbor or a work colleague,” Ferrer said.
CPR and AED training can be lifesaving as more than 350,000 cardiac events occur outside a hospital every year, in many public locations including shopping malls, school buildings, offices and sports facilities, Ferrer said.
Ferrer also emphasized the importance of educating the public on overdose prevention, as so many deaths have occurred in the county linked to opiods. Seven to nine residents in Los Angeles County die each day from overdoses, according to department statistics.
“Naloxone training and awareness will teach residents to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose and administer Narcan,” Ferrer said, using a trade name for Naloxone, which blocks the effects of opioids. and can restore normal breathing within two to three minutes in a person whose breath has slowed, or even stopped, as a result of opioid overdose.
The campaign also includes a course in providing initial help and supporting someone who may be experiencing a crisis related to mental health or substance use, Ferrer said.
More information on the Community Readiness Champions Initiative is available at publichealth.lacounty.gov/communityreadinesschampions.
The news conference was held in conjunction with start of National Public Health Week, held annually during the first full week of April.