More than 80 locations across Los Angeles County will be participating in the Hands Only CPR Sidewalk CPR Day today, Tuesday June 4.

The one-day event is coordinated by the L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency, The L.A. County Fire Department and the American Heart Association to help improve cardiac arrest survival.

The Hands Only CPR trains people in responding to an emergency medical need. LACoFD visited the Fire House youth center a few weeks ago to train teens on the procedure.[picture] The kids were able to get life saving training and now have the confidence and knowledge to help others.

Over 80% of all cardiac arrest occur in the home, according to LACoFD. Currently only 3% of these cardiac arrest victims in LA County survive, nearly 383,000 people suffer cardiac arrest every year away from a hospital environment.

“Hands-only CPR focuses on the first few minutes following a cardiac arrest, since the lungs and blood contain only enough oxygen to keep vital organs healthy for that amount of time. While emergency responders are on their way to the scene, chest compressions using hands-only CPR will provide the ongoing blood flow needed to give the patient a much better chance of survival once responders arrive,” stated LACoFD.

Hands Only training will be at Ralphs in La Crescenta, today from 10 a.m. to noon. For a list of participating businesses and times of training go to   http://ems.dhs.lacounty.gov/Home/2013_CPR_Reg.pdf

Ralphs, La Crescenta, is located at 2675 Foothill Blvd. the listing above has the incorrect address of 3157 Foothill Blvd. There is no charge for this training.