Beginning in 2013, AMR began teaching life-saving techniques to individuals in communities nationwide. Since starting the challenge, AMR teams have trained more than 380,000 people in compression-only CPR. Since 2017, we have been honored to team up with two of the largest names in EMS: ACEP and IAFC. Together, we trained thousands in bystander-CPR, further increasing our ability to improve the SCA survivor rate.
During National Emergency Services Week taking place May 17-23, 2020, AMR will once again be partnering with ACEP and IAFC to hold the World CPR Challenge.
Using our network of EMTs and paramedics in communities coast-to-coast, and in several countries, we put in place a compression-only CPR training effort. In cooperation with ACEP and IAFC, we hope to provide this life-saving technique to as many individuals as possible in one week.
Why compression-only CPR?
Each year, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) unexpectedly takes the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Annually, AMR crews care for more than 30,000 SCA patients. Studies show survival from SCA can be doubled or tripled if CPR is administered until emergency medical services arrive. Simplifying CPR to include only compressions allow bystanders the ability to perform a simple task that can help keep patients alive until professional help arrives.
We believe we will see the impact of increased bystander CPR for decades to come. In 2010, the AMR bystander CPR rate was 21.4%. It now stands at almost 50% across the country. As we continue to train more people each year in CPR, we believe the number of survivors from sudden cardiac arrest will increase as well.
