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Concurrent Block #1

Special Interest

Creating Broader Access to CPR Training and SCA Response

Jumping to Inclusion: Implementing Accessible CPR Training in Your Community

Thursday, November 30, 2023
10:50 AM – 11:05 AM PST
Location: Sunset Rooms 1 - 3
Disclosure(s):
Loralee Olejnik, M.A., EMT-B: No financial relationships to disclose
Summary: This presentation will discuss implementing accessible CPR/AED training for persons with disabilities in the community. It will include case studies, tips, and positive results that come from adding these additional links in the chain of survival.

Synopsis: “We do not “Do” inclusion for people with disabilities. Rather, it is incumbent upon us to figure out how all the things we do can be inclusive.” -Lisa Friedman, Removing the Stumbling Block

This presentation will address how and why we should expand accessible CPR/AED training to persons with disabilities in our communities. With appropriate accommodation, we can teach all people to play a role in saving a life from Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

At best, persons with disabilities may at times be inadvertently overlooked for community CPR training initiatives, at worst, subject to the assumption that they cannot perform CPR or contribute to a resuscitation.

This presentation will help expand horizons, address concerns and motivate attendees to provide inclusive CPR/AED training in their communities. It will cover tips for implementing accessible CPR training, creating community partnerships, and planning for logistical accommodations that may be needed. It will also discuss recent efforts to provide CPR certification to persons with disabilities. It will include case studies of organizations that have implemented accessible CPR/AED training, and the positive results that have come from adding these additional vital links in the chain of survival.

Learning Objectives:

  • Motivate attendees to expand their CPR/AED community education programs to be more inclusive. This challenges the status quo of where we traditionally look to teach CPR in the community. Also, it provides for more health equity and empowers persons with disabilities to take on an expanded roles in emergencies.
  • Broadens the worldview of what bystanders can do to help save a life from SCA. Helps to see there is room for many roles in an SCA response. Even someone who cannot physically perform CPR can be part of the chain of survival.
  • This presentation will include ways to educate citizens that can lead to a comprehensive change to a culture of excellence and improved CPR training in the community, schools and workplace.