AURORA | Shirley Bennett, senior manager of safety and environmental compliance for the Regional Transportation District, knows CPR training can mean the difference between life and death.
Her own CPR training came in handy in 1979, when she was in college and walked into the bathroom in the middle of the night to find a girl, overdosed on drugs, lying nearly lifeless on the floor. The training was useful a second time, about 15 years ago, when Bennett was at a bank and an elderly man suffered a heart attack.
That’s why Bennett has been involved in recent efforts to install 30 Automated External Defibrillators at 17 RTD locations and educate more than 160 RTD employees in CPR and AED training.
“This gives us another level of preparedness and another opportunity to save lives that we didn’t have before,” Bennett said.
The AEDs will be installed by the end of March in 17 RTD locations including the Civic Center Station, Denver Union Station, Market Street Station and RTD’s Blake Street headquarters. Aurora will get its own at RTD’s East Metro Division at 14100 E. Colfax Ave.
AEDs are portable electronic devices that deliver shocks to the hearts of people during cardiac
arrest.
Through a partnership with the American Red Cross, RTD received 30 AEDs for free in December. CPR and AED training is also being offered for free by the American Red Cross to all of RTD’s employees, which is about 2,500 people.
The American Red Cross received a $3 million grant three years ago to help fund the project with RTD, said Patricia Billinger, regional communications director for American Red Cross Mile High Region. Each AED costs between $1,200 and $3,000, she said.
Billinger hopes the effort between RTD and the American Red Cross will help save lives.
“Transportation and transit are at the heart of our communities, and millions of people interact with transportation systems every day,” she said.
CPR and AED training is an important disaster-preparedness tool for RTD employees, she said.
“We’re able to help RTD ensure they have the greatest level of preparedness so they can continue to operate and provide essential services should a major disaster strike,” she said.
According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, about 1,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur nationwide daily outside of a hospital. Sudden cardiac arrest, which happens as a result of choking, heart attacks, electrocution or drowning, is the leading cause of death for people over the age of 40.
CPR and AED training is crucial because the chances of someone surviving sudden cardiac arrest drop 10 percent for every minute they go without care, Billinger said. Brain death can occur within five minutes, she said.
“It’s about getting care to that person as quickly as possible,” she said.
Billinger said the partnership with RTD is part of a larger effort by the American Red Cross to provide 1,000 AEDs and training to organizations around the state to help them prepare for emergency cardiac arrest situations.
Lisa Trujillo, spokeswoman for RTD, said RTD has never had access to AED’s before.
“RTD is honored to collaborate with the American Red Cross to help save lives and enhance disaster preparedness in the
community,” she said.
So far, 167 RTD employees have received CPR and AED training, and RTD has to keep adding more classes to accommodate all of the interested employees, Trujillo said.
Tom Tobiassen, RTD board member whose district covers Aurora, said the partnership between RTD and the American Red Cross is crucial in helping to save lives.
“I think it’s a huge benefit to the public to have those devices readily available and to have people trained in both CPR and AED,” said Tobiassen, who has received both trainings before, as an American Red Cross volunteer.
Tobiassen said he’s never personally encountered someone suffering from cardiac arrest, but he’s glad to be prepared. Having AED’s at RTD locations is a huge benefit, he said.
“You hope you’ll never need it, but it’s there if something happens,” he said.
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.