TruStage Kicks Off Heart Month with MFD

February is Heart Month—the perfect time to consider your heart health while equipping yourself with the knowledge and skills to help someone experiencing cardiac arrest.

No one was more excited to kick off Heart Month with us than TruStage, located on Madison’s west side! Forty TruStage employees showed up dressed in red to learn hands-only CPR and AED with Madison Fire Department paramedics.

When someone calls 911 to report an unresponsive patient, we aim to be on scene within five minutes. What happens during those five minutes, or however long it takes for us to arrive, is critical to the health and survival of someone in cardiac arrest.

That’s why we want as many people as possible to know how to perform hands-only CPR and how to operate an automated external defibrillator (AED). Taking action before first responders arrive vastly increase the chances that the patient will survive and be able to return to their normal life.

‘I Will Survive’

During this hour-long class, TruStage employees learned what happens in the body when someone’s heart stops beating properly. 

Then MFD paramedics demonstrated how to properly perform hands-only CPR: with hands positioned at the center of the sternum, pumping on the chest at a depth of about two inches, to the beat of songs like “Stayin’ Alive” and “I Will Survive.”

With training manikins that give real-time feedback, participants were able to get the feel of what the proper rhythm and depth of compressions feel like. Plus, they had a fun soundtrack to pump along to—a Spotify playlist called “Songs to do CPR to.”

Paramedics also performed a live demonstration of how to use an AED while providing chest compressions. TruStage employees gathered together in small groups to practice these skills. Now, 40 more people in our community know what to do if someone nearby experiences sudden cardiac arrest!

The power is in your hands

MFD is proud to make these classes available to our community free of charge. We teach them in a fun, approachable way, so you feel confident to help someone in their moment of great need.  

YOU can learn these skills too! 

Sign up for one of our upcoming community CPR/AED classes, held Wednesday, February 28, at Fire Station 1 in downtown Madison.