Harleysville Area EMS Hosting Pit Crew CPR Training

NASCAR has helped breathe new life into how CPR is done by area EMS.
Harleysville Area EMS will be hosting a joint Pit Crew CPR training in September where emergency services providers work as a "pit crew" team in lifesaving.
The event on Sept. 7 at Branch Creek Church will feature emergency services providers from Green Lane EMS, Harleysville Fire Co., Upper Salford Fire Co. and Lower Salford Police Department.
Now, it will not be unusual to see police and a fire truck respond to a 911 cardiac arrest call.
When arriving at a scene of a person in cardiac arrest, everyone—paramedics, EMTs, firefighters, and police officers—will have a specific job.
As one emergency services provider does chest compressions, another one is feeling for a pulse and a third is inserting IVs, while a fourth is administering lifesaving medications, for instance.
According to Harleysville Area Paramedic and Community Outreach Training Coordinator Nicole Smith, the new pit crew CPR is designed to start CPR sooner and provide a more efficient response. The new system also lessens and avoids rescuer fatigue.
According to Smith, sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 350,000 people yearly.