SOUTH BEND, IN – For the third year in a row, the South Bend Cubs will host a CPR Training Event with over a thousand local children participating from South Bend Community School Corporation and School City of Mishawaka at Four Winds Field. This event is the largest in the region.
Unlike heart attacks or strokes, which result from disruptions of blood flow, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) occurs when the heart has an electrical malfunction and stops beating without warning. SCA is the leading cause of death in adults over 40. In 2015, several Saint Joseph County physicians created a task force to collect data on survival rates and conduct evidence-based interventions to improve those survival rates. They found that 70% of these incidents occur in the home and that, on average, one resident of Saint Joseph County suffered SCA every 28 hours. Despite these startling statistics, SCA is treatable. Prompt administration of CPR within 3-5 minutes is the key to survival.
On September 5th, over 1,800 8th-grade students from Saint Joseph County schools will gather at Four Winds Field to be taught hands-only CPR using take-home training kits. Multiple studies have shown that students, when given this kit, train an average of 2.5 additional people at home and in their communities. To improve knowledge retention, community leaders and first responders will also present testimonies that inspire students to engage in the training by expressing the importance of this life-saving skill.
With the support of numerous community partners, the event was coordinated by enFocus, a local nonprofit, and the Out-Of-Hospital-Cardiac-Arrest (OHCA) Task Force to drive home the importance of prompt bystander intervention for victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Sponsors of this event are enFocus, St. Joseph Health System, Beacon Health System, the University of Notre Dame, Press Ganey, and the South Bend Cubs. Additional partners are Dr. William Sarnat, OHCA Task Force, and the City of South Bend.
The event is not open to the public, but news media representatives are welcome. Please see the second page for a specific timeline. In the event of inclement weather, enFocus will announce the postponement of the event to Thursday, September 19th.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.