NEWS RELEASE — Gov. Walker today signed a bill that aims to improve the survival chances of all cardiac arrest victims in Wisconsin by ensuring all 911 dispatchers in the state can give CPR instructions over the phone.
The American Heart Association reports that a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival falls 10% with each passing minute between cardiac arrest and the start of CPR. When bystander CPR is administered, it doubles and even triples the chance that the victims survive. With this law, 911 dispatchers in Wisconsin will be able to help callers begin bystander CPR immediately on a cardiac arrest victim, as first responders are on the way.
“Right now, bystander CPR rates in Wisconsin hover around 19%, but the new law aims to increase that statistic and save more cardiac arrest victims,” said Mary Jo Gordon, Chair of the American Heart Association’s Wisconsin Advocacy Committee. “We’re grateful to Gov. Walker, the bill’s co-authors Sen. Jerry Petrowski and Rep. Treig Pronschinske as well as all of the legislators who supported it.”
To learn more about the wide-ranging impact of this issue, please view this PSA series on the American Heart Association’s YouTube page.
Stakeholders that support this law include the American College of Cardiology Wisconsin Chapter, American Red Cross, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Project ADAM, Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin, Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, Rural Wisconsin Heath Cooperative, SSM Health, Wisconsin APCO, Wisconsin EMS Association and Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association.
