ATLANTA – Emory Healthcare teamed up last month with the Atlanta Falcons to host the “1 Trained at Every Game” community event, providing free hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training to nearly 500 youth and adults.

"This is how you save a life, and anybody can do it,” says Jonathan Kim, MD, sports cardiologist with Emory Healthcare and associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at Emory University. “The timing once your heart stops beating is critical. You only have about two to three minutes to begin CPR and with a delay, the chance of death increases dramatically.”

The event, held on Sept. 7, aimed to equip youth players, parents, coaches, and the general community with essential skills to prevent deaths from sudden cardiac arrest – the leading cause of death among adults and student-athletes nationwide.

Emory Healthcare, the official team health care provider of the Falcons, used CPR Manikins for training sessions at the Home Depot Backyard in Atlanta outside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium as groups practiced their newly learned skills. 

Attendees also participated in a training to talk about the importance of creating an emergency action plan that outlines specific procedures and steps to be taken in the event of an emergency to ensure a coordinated response.