Timely CPR is the only reason I am alive today after sudden cardiac arrest a year ago October. Now I am leading group bike rides, maybe not the very fastest and longest but I am in pretty good shape for the shape I am in. :} Another Austin area cyclist does centuries after a heart attack about 4 years ago. He is only with us because the second car on the scene when he went down on a group ride was a nurse on her way to work who administered CPR until the meat wagon arrived.

I am sponsoring a CPR class in April for any and all in the Austin cyclist community and my employees.

The average survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest, (a little different than a "heart attack" and gives little or no warning) is 6% Not too good! Once your heart has shut down suddenly, the ONLY thing that will restart it is a defibrillator. But CPR buys time against otherwise inevitable and rapid death of heart muscle and brain cells. With immediate bystander CPR the odds are significantly better than 6%.

There are cheap online courses, but I am going to have an actual instructor bring dummies etc.

You can be active, fit, not very overweight and still s**t happens.

MEANWHILE OR IF YOU DON'T TAKE A COURSE:

---Time is of the essence if the heart stops! Get started ASAP

---So you crack a rib or two by pushing too hard. That's common and a small price to pay.

---Mouth-to-mouth is obsolete.

---If you don't quite know what your doing, do it anyway! Inaction = death, 911 operator should be able to coach you.

---If it doesn't go well, you are protected against lawsuit by "good samaritan laws."

Thanks for reading and acting upon this!

Don in Austin

Donald Lewis
Owner/Manager
Don's Automotive
Austin, Texas, USA