CPR awareness week puts Goodyear's November heart walk into focus

The American Heart Association seeks to increase CPR education, research and outreach through the annual West Valley Heart Walk campaign and reflection during CPR awareness week.

The West Valley Heart Walk will occur on Nov. 16 at the Goodyear Civic Square.  It is locally presented by Abrazo Health and Sun Health is the “Live Fierce Take Action” sponsor.

According to the American Heart Association, 9 out of 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of the hospital die, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), especially if performed immediately, can double or triple survival rates.

The Heart Walk is a nationwide community initiative that raises funds to advance lifesaving research. Increasing CPR education is critical in addressing heart health outreach.

The first thing putting the annual West Valley Heart Walk into focus this year is National CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week . From June 1 to 7, the purpose of the education week is to empower companies in the West Valley to become champions of CPR.

Nora Hannah, 2024 West Valley Heart Walk Chair and Chief Engagement Officer of Sun Health, will spearhead efforts this week and throughout the year by rallying fellow corporate leaders and their employees to join the 2024 Heart Walk.

“We want at least one person in every household to learn CPR,” said Hannah. “Imagine the lifesaving impact we could make if every home in the West Valley had a hero in waiting who was confident and ready to act in a cardiac emergency. By engaging more people in Heart Walk we can turn our community of bystanders into a community of lifesavers”.

Implemented in over 220 cities nationwide, the year-round Heart Walk campaign engages companies to improve health and well-being of employees while driving efforts to fight against cardiovascular diseases, the no. 1 killer in the U.S. Now, participating companies not only contribute to the fight against heart disease and stroke but also will help drive the organization-wide Nation of Lifesavers ™ movement, the Association’s most recent commitment to CPR with the declaration to double survival rates of cardiac arrest by 2030 .

For more than six decades, the American Heart Association has led the way as the global leader in resuscitation science, education and training, and as the official publisher of the guidelines for CPR. Through the Nation of Lifesavers initiative, the Association is committed to turning a nation of bystanders into lifesavers. The multi-year initiative supports CPR education, extends AED use and engages employers, policymakers, philanthropists and others to increase the chain of survival. The long-term goal is to ensure that in the face of a cardiac emergency, everyone, everywhere is prepared and empowered to perform CPR.

. For more information about the West Valley Heart Walk visit www.westvalleyheartwalk.org .