IROQUOIS, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) Only 51-percent of Americans feel they’d be able to perform C-P-R manually in an emergency, according to a new survey. For those experiencing a cardiac emergency, chances of survival drop 10-percent for every minute that passes. Those minutes add up in rural communities, where emergency services take longer. That’s why Daphne Moeller, who works at the school in Iroquois–population 300–got her town involved in South Dakota Department of Health’s Cardiac Ready Communities program, which helps educate and equip communities to respond.
Iroquois’ nearest medical center is 15 miles away. According to a 2017 study, the median wait time for emergency medical services in rural areas is more than twice the average–14 minutes, compared to an average of seven.
The Cardiac Ready Communities program goes beyond just hands-only CPR training. It also maps out where A-E-Ds, or automated external defibrillators, are in a community, and where others should be, says American Heart Association’s rural health director Tim Nikolai.
Iroquois is the fifth South Dakota community recognized as cardiac-ready.