2010 Training Date will be posted,
March 2010.

Ninth Annual “Be a Heart Starter” Bystander CPR Training Event Trains 1,045 to Surpass 11,000 Trained in Nine Years.

To date, 11,010 Acadiana residents have learned bystander CPR since this life-saving event was conceived in 2001. This year’s total of 1,045 participants is the sixth time in the “Be a Heart Starter” nine-year history to exceed training 1,000 people in this nationally recognized one day event.

“We are very pleased with the continuing interest from the Acadiana community to give up part of their Saturday to come and learn how to help save a life,” says Dr. Charles Wyatt, event founder and medical director. “The survival rate of persons who have collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest has increased dramatically since 2001 from a one percent survival rate to 17 percent today. Someone performing bystander CPR is an important part of this increased survival rate.”

“Acadiana is a safer place to live because of all the people that have taken the time to learn bystander CPR,” says Gif Saravia, event lead instructor. “We’d like to thank the more than 300 medical and non-medical volunteers who give up a Saturday to help in the training.”

“This event is organized by the medical community and community-minded businesses of Acadiana. Without these 25 sponsors and many of their employees who volunteer to support this event, it would not happen,” says Dr. Wyatt. “Along with all the media support, we hope to continue to hold this event for many years to come. Look for the 2010 event to be announced in March, 2010.”