NEWELL, S.D. – In a cardiac emergency, every second counts.
Every minute without CPR or AED use can mean the difference between life and death, especially in South Dakota’s rural areas, where it can take over 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
The first designated ‘Cardiac Ready Community’ in western South Dakota is Newell.
“Cardiac arrest can happen to anybody; it doesn’t take in age, gender, race, or any of that; it can happen to anybody, and minutes count, so the more people that we have trained in CPR and know how to do CPR and use an AED, we’re going to give that patient the best chance of survival,” Sherry Hocking, the director of Newell Ambulance, said.
The Cardiac Ready Community (CRC) Program helps educate, equip, and empower local community members to be better prepared and more confident in helping someone experiencing a cardiac event before the ambulance arrives.
The CRC Team works together to create a system of care where community members, city officials, business owners, dispatchers, emergency medical services (EMS), police, fire, and hospital staff work together.
Newell Ambulance has worked hard over the past year to train 138 community members to not only respond, but respond confidently to a cardiac emergency before professional help arrives.
“You’re automatically beginning the lifesaving process to allow an ambulance to get to the person to really help, to provide the care that only they can give, but if you can keep that person alive if you know the basics of CPR, you give that person a greater chance because you’re right there right then,” Belle Fourche City Council member Clark Sowers said.
Sowers praised Newell’s efforts and said they are a prime example for other rural West River communities.
“This should be going on in every community, and I’ve got heart disease. I’ve never had a heart attack, but I could have and I’ve had heart surgery, so when your heart doesn’t work, it doesn’t work,” Sowers said.
This map indicates were AED devices are available throughout Newell, S.D. Donations are being accepted to place more AED’s in the community.
