Saving Lives Focus of Heart Safe-Bleed Safe Community

Increasing the chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest or bleeding from traumatic injuries is the concept behind the Chino Valley Fire District’s Heart Safe-Bleed Safe Community, providing free training and equipment to help patients in need.

“We realized our community members are probably our greatest asset because although firefighters want to be there logistically and physically the moment something happens, often times that is not the reality,” said firefighter-paramedic Ryan Pourhassanian, the leader and spokesman of the program.

For years, Chino Valley Fire District firefighters, police officers from the Chino and Chino Hills police departments and Chino Valley Medical Center employees have trained with each other on helping patients suffering cardiac arrest and bleeding injuries. They believed teaching community members basic life-saving skills would be a great asset.

“We’ve talked about ways to get equipment into the hands of the community. We have partnered with the Chino Valley Fire Foundation and we rely on community donations to provide funds to get defibrillators and trauma kits in our cities,” Mr. Pourhassanian said.

So far, 70 trauma kits and five defibrillators have been purchased. Every school in the Chino Valley Unified School District has a trauma kit, which includes trauma shears, protective gloves, a tourniquet, a children’s-sized tourniquet, pressure dressing, emergency blanket and compressed gauze. The kits, at a cost of $75 each, are designed to help four or five victims

“There were zero kits in the Chino Valley in 2016,” Mr. Pourhassanian said.

Defibrillators have been donated to Chino restaurants Los Portales, Super Chili Burger and Avocado House, and Chino Hills restaurants Limericks and Bravo Burger.

More are on their way, Mr. Pourhassanian said.

“The goal is to have a defibrillator in every shopping center in Chino and Chino Hills,” he said. “We look for places with high-foot traffic, places that may open early and close late. Every minute that goes by without CPR and a defibrillator being used, you decrease the patient’s chance for survival by 10 percent. Every second counts.”

One requirement for a business having a defibrillator is making it available for public access. It should be placed in an easily visible, easily accessible location of their business and available to anyone anytime.

“We train them for free and leave them with life-saving medical equipment that are all purchased through community donations,” Mr. Pourhassanian said.

Chino Hills Police Deputy Noel Negron said a defibrillator and a tourniquet are available on patrol cars, and he recalled two incidents in the past year in the city where defibrillators were used in the field after someone suffered cardiac arrest.

“One was at last year’s boat parade, and another was outside a movie theatre,” the deputy said. “It’s helpful to have those tools there and the training behind it to try and save someone’s life.”

Mr. Pourhassanian also mentioned a recent situation at a local gym where a gym member suffered cardiac arrest and the “chain of survival” took action.

“Members of the gym recognized there was a problem, called 9-1-1, and started hands-only CPR,” he said. “Someone grabbed the gym’s defibrillator before law enforcement showed up. Police took over and used the defibrillator they had available in their squad car.”

Firefighters then consulted with the hospital, which pointed them to the best-suited medical facility for the patient’s condition.

“The patient survived with phenomenal neurological outcome and that is truly what we are after,” Mr. Pourhassanian said. “This system-based approach saves lives.”

He said firefighter-paramedics used to “scoop and run” a patient to the hospital but learned the best chance for survival is to treat the patient on the scene.

“Even if it is a crowded gym,” he said.

First Care Provider classes

Chino Valley Fire Captain Carlos Skibar said community members are often saying they would like to help, but don’t know what to do.

Several times a year, Capt. Skibar offers a free First Care Provider class, which includes training on traumatic bleeding injuries and sudden cardiac arrest.

Last year, approximately 3,000 people took training on traumatic injuries and another 2,500 on defibrillator training.

Dozens of companies and organizations, including the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and the National Guard, have attended the classes.

Other companies such as Amazon in Eastvale have asked to have training provided to their employees.

A list of available classes can be found on the Chino Valley Fire District website at chinovalleyfire.org. No classes are scheduled for the rest of 2018, the website shows. A 2019 class list has not been announced.

“Three percent of our nation’s population is training every year on certifiable CPR courses, but what about the other 97 percent,” Mr. Pourhassanian said. “We are making it more accessible and it’s free. You may not get a CPR card out of it, but you don’t need a card in your wallet to help somebody.”

Donations to the Heart Safe or Bleed Safe programs can be made at chinovalleyfire.org (click on the community relations tab).

Information: 902-5260.

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Story Credit: http://www.championnewspapers.com/news/article_812033a8-0565-11e9-8410-5b01b68d87f1.html

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