Pictured left to right: Jeffrey Salvatore, American Heart Association; Jennifer Lichtman-Green, American Heart Association; Brenda Robles Cooke, Delaware Valley Community Health; Kathy Albanese, Independence Blue Cross; Rich Snyder, Independence Blue Cross
Dr. Richard Snyder, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Independence Blue Cross (IBX), joined American Heart Association (AHA) and Delaware Valley Community Health leadership to launch the new location for the Mobile Hands-Only CPR Kiosk at Maria de los Santos Health Center of Delaware Valley Community Health. The kiosk moved from Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, where it educated over 1,700 people since last April.
IBX has worked with the AHA for more than a decade to remove barriers to Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) education. The kiosk, which IBX sponsors, is placed in high-volume locations around Greater Philadelphia, and in community-based organizations to remove barriers to education and practice for those with an increased risk of not receiving bystander CPR. The first location was the Wells Fargo Center.
More than 350,000 people will experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest this year. Mobile Hands-Only CPR Kiosks are interactive, self-training stations designed to teach and reinforce Hands-Only CPR skills in public places such as shopping malls, airports, and community centers. Studies show that Hands-Only CPR is as effective as conventional CPR.
The kiosk features a touchscreen with a video program offered in both English and Spanish that gives a brief “how-to” followed by a practice session and a 30-second CPR test. Maria de los Santos is the largest provider of primary care to Latinos in Philadelphia. Through a manikin, or rubber torso, the kiosk provides feedback on hand placement, depth, rate, and recoil of compressions – factors influencing the effectiveness of CPR. The kiosks are designed for self-paced learning, making it accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds.
