Alexander and Baldwin supports the American Heart Association in fight against heart disease

Alexander & Baldwin (A&B) Foundation and The American Heart Association (AHA) of Hawai’i are teaming to reduce deaths from cardiac arrest on Kaua’i.

The A&B Foundation has provided the AHA with a $10,000 grant to be used on Kaua’i and Maui to educate high school students on how to recognize and react when witnessing a cardiac arrest. The education is part of the American Heart Association’s Operation Heartbeat initiative.

Operation Heartbeat is a national, community-based initiative the American Heart Association has developed to improve the national sudden cardiac arrest survival rate. Operation Heartbeat focuses on improving the “chain of survival,” a proven method for improving sudden cardiac arrest survival. In cities where the “chain of survival” is strong, the survival rate is 15 percent or more.

According to the AHA, if every community in the United States could achieve a 20 percent sudden cardiac arrest survival rate, an estimated 50,000 Americans or more could be saved each year.

The CPR In Schools program provides a flexible curriculum that is easy for teachers to implement and evaluate. It make CPR “serious fun” for students by teaching them to be capable of delivering bystander CPR to family members, friends or members of the general public.

Through the A&B Foundation funding, the AHA of Hawai’i trained approximately 400 sophomores at Kaua’i and Waimea high schools last school. It plans to also offer its education program to Kaua’i private high schools during the upcoming school year.

The AHA of Hawai’i has also conducted public education activities to strengthen the local “chain of survival.” it is implementing call-to-action campaigns that encourage the general public to recognize the signs of sudden cardiac arrest, to call 911 immediately if it occurs and to give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).