To celebrate American Heart Month, Princeton Medical Center (PMC) will offer free infant CPR training to all moms who give birth at the hospital in February, along with their partners and interested family members.
PMC will also participate in Little Hats, Big HeartsTM, an annual campaign by the American Heart Association (AHA) to raise awareness of heart disease, the leading cause of death in America, and congenital heart defects, the most prevalent birth defect.
Every baby born at PMC in February will receive a red hat that was knitted or crocheted and then donated to the AHA by volunteers nationwide.
Instructors from Princeton Health’s Community Wellness Department will provide the infant CPR training on the Mother Baby Unit at PMC. Classes will be available seven days a week throughout the month of February, with three of those days dedicated to classes for family members of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the United States, and the overwhelming majority of sudden cardiac arrests occur at home or other locations outside the hospital. Immediate, effective CPR can double or even triple one’s chance of survival, according to the AHA.
The AHA estimates that more than 7,000 children suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually, and the survival rate averages about 6 percent.
“Early intervention can mean the difference between life and death, so it is crucial for parents and other caregivers to know CPR,” said Debbie Millar, director of Community Wellness for Princeton Health. “We offered free CPR classes last February to celebrate Heart Month. It was very well received, and we are happy to do it again this year.”
Community Wellness offers CPR training to the general public year-round through its Family & Friends CPR classes. There are two separate curricula — one to administer care for adults and children and a second to care for infants up to 1 year old. Those classes are provided for a nominal fee.
For more information, visit PrincetonHCS.org/calendar and search the keywords Family & Friends.