Eastford designated 'HEARTSafe Community'

EASTFORD — American Heart Association Instructor (AHA) Jeannine Spink is pleased to announce that Eastford has been designated for another three years as a “HEARTSafe Community.” Eastford has earned this designation since 2013 and was commended for having met the renewal requirements of a designated HEARTsafe Community.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Office of Emergency Medical Services and the AHA encourage and promote community awareness of the potential for saving the lives of sudden cardiac arrest victims through the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), increased public access to defibrillation and advanced care.

HEARTSafe Community is a program designed to promote survival from sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. It is a general concept focused upon strengthening the “chain of survival” as described by the AHA. It recognizes and stimulates efforts by individual communities to improve their system for preventing sudden cardiac arrest from becoming irreversible death.

A HEARTSafe Community promotes and supports CPR training in the community; public access to defibrillation through strategic placement of automated external defibrillators (AED’s) for use by public safety professionals and other trained community members.

The goal is simple — if someone in our community suffers a sudden cardiac arrest tomorrow, with proper training, survival may be based on rapid access to life-saving treatment. With proper training, ordinary citizens in our community can recognize the signs and symptoms of a sudden cardiac or stroke event and know how to give care and get help “on the way, right away.”

So, when you enter the town boundaries of Eastford and notice the HEARTSafe Community road signs, you can be assured that quick and efficient care is as close to you as dialing “911” and be assured that your friends and family and the Eastford Independent Fire Company #1 are ready to do their part.