FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Connecticut Department of Public Health
December 15, 2009 Contact: William Gerrish
(860) 509-7270
Hartford – The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), in collaboration with the American Heart Association, announces that Bozrah has been designated a HEARTSafe Community.
“The HEARTSafe Communities program is designed to promote and recognize the efforts of local municipalities to provide improved cardiac response and care to its residents,” said DPH Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. “Bozrah has demonstrated its commitment toward ensuring that its residents and visitors receive the early lifesaving response proven to increase the chances of survival for heart attack victims.”
“As an active EMT, I am well aware that effective intervention in the first several minutes following a cardiac event is critical in improving the survival rate,” said William E. Ballinger, First Selectman Bozrah. “Even a rapid response from emergency medical services loses precious minutes and strategically placed AEDs and someone in the area trained to use them can make a difference. This program will increase the chance that our residents and visitors will receive the earliest intervention possible and should save lives as we go forward. “
DPH began the HEARTSafe Communities program to foster community environments that improve the survival odds for people suffering sudden cardiac events, such as cardiac arrests or heart attacks. The key to the program has been dubbed by the American Heart Association as the Chain of Survival. The Chain of Survival has four vital links: early access to emergency care; early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); early defibrillation and early advanced care.
A HEARTSafe Community promotes and supports: CPR training in the community; public access to defibrillation through strategic placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for use by public safety professionals and other trained community members; and early advanced care. Bozrah met the program requirements for public placement of AEDs, trained community residents, and equipped, staffed and trained emergency responders. In addition, Bozrah is planning on continuing to provide community CPR training programs and expand the availability of AEDs in public locations.
Municipalities wishing to obtain designation as a HEARTSafe Community can download an application from the State Department of Public Health website at: www.ct.gov/dph or contact Gary St. Amand, Health Program Associate, Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program at gary.stamand@ct.gov or 860-509-7581.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health is the state’s leader in public health policy and advocacy with a mission to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of our state. To contact the department, please visit its website at www.ct.gov/dph or call (860) 509-7270.
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