Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Erie County has earned a prestigious recognition as a national community committed to improving outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest, especially in light of the Damar Hamlin incident more than two years ago on "Monday Night Football".
In a joint announcement on Thursday, Erie County was recognized as an official HEARTSafe Community by the Citizen CPR Foundation.
To earn this designation, Erie County met 13 essential benchmarks, including a year-long effort to educate more than 15% of county residents (about 147,000 people) in hands-only CPR. Other criteria were related to increasing access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs), strengthening 9-1-1 dispatcher protocols, and building a system of rapid response supported by community partners, schools, local organizations and emergency medical services (EMS).
Over the past year, key collaborators included the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Black Nurses, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, Cardiac Crusade, Highmark, Project Play WNY, UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, and Erie County’s Live Well Erie, Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) programs have been foundational in aligning training, protocols and policy work with the HEARTSafe model.
"This designation reflects how we’ve created a safer community for our residents and guests, one that aligns directly with HEARTSafe community priorities,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz on Thursday. "Our community partners, EMS providers, emergency preparedness staff and public health professionals have worked together to ensure that lifesaving skills like hands-only CPR and AED use are widely taught and accessible throughout the community. We are creating an environment where more people are ready to act, and more lives can be saved."
Hands-only CPR and AED training events were held at schools, workplaces, public spaces, and also Bills games. A major focus of the initiative was reaching underserved neighborhoods to reduce disparities in access to CPR education, AEDs and other response resources.
"Earlier this year our organization announced that bystander confidence in being able to perform any type of CPR increased from 33% to 39%, representing 17.7 million more Americans," said Tom Lowe of the American Heart Association. "Erie County has joined a growing movement to give people in their communities the knowledge, skills and confidence to call 911, push hard and fast in the center of the chest until help arrives, and know how to use an AED when faced with a life-threatening emergency."
With this designation, Erie County joins a growing national network of HEARTSafe communities committed to reducing deaths from sudden cardiac arrest through prevention, preparedness, and public engagement.