Got a minute? If so, you can learn to be a hero. Medical volunteers will offer free “60 Seconds To Save A Life” training at Saturday’s Prefontaine Memorial Run. They’ll teach a hands-only version of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, employing chest compressions without the traditional mouth-to-mouth breathing. Fear of communicable disease has made many people unwilling to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, said Deanna Prater, a registered nurse at Bay Area Hospital. Though traditional CPR is preferred, the hands-only technique can provide life-saving help without mouth-to-mouth contact. “I think the big bonus is, it’s very simplified,” Prater said. Both adults and children can learn the method, and it truly can be taught in just one minute. Hospital employees will join volunteers from Bay Cities Ambulance and North Bend Medical Center to provide the training. Bay Cities Ambulance will provide the mannequins. The training will rock to the rhythm of lively music, including the classic disco tune, “Stayin’ Alive.” (Thumping at 103 beats per minute, the 1977 Bee Gees hit sets an ideal tempo for chest compressions.) In addition to CPR training, Bay Area Hospital will offer heart health education, including instruction in the emergency use of automated external defibrillators. AEDs, available in many public buildings and commercial venues, deliver electric shocks to correct life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. The training will use simulators that are identical to AEDs, but with no actual shock. The CPR and AED training will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, in the infield of Marshfield High School’s Pete Susick Stadium, where the 10-kilometer race will conclude. The free emergency training is just one way health-care professionals will be visible at the Bay Area Fun Festival this weekend: • A doctor, nurses and paramedics will staff a medical tent to care for any sick or injured runners. • Bay Area Hospital employees participating in the race will wear distinctive T-shirts, celebrating the hospital’s Prefontaine Cardiovascular Center. • Dr. Seth Giri, medical director of the cardiovascular center, will ride in the Fun Festival parade with his wife, Amy. Dr. Giri is an interventional cardiologist who led development of the hospital’s cardiac catheterization program in 2013. The cardiovascular center was renamed this year in honor of Coos Bay running legend Steve Prefontaine.
