Each year, more than 326,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States, and 90% of those people die. Survival rates can double or triple if the victim receives CPR right away. Yet, 70% of Americans feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency because they don’t know how to administer CPR or they’re afraid of hurting the victim. But, a 2012 study showed that people who view a Hands-Only CPR demonstration are significantly more likely to deliver lifesaving chest compressions.
CPR in America is hosted by Second Opinion’s Dr. Peter Salgo and taped before a live studio audience of survivors and rescuers. The hour-long special provides easy to understand Hands-Only CPR demonstrations and shares interviews with the doctors involved in writing the new guidelines. It also features documentary-style survivor stories of three families whose lives were drastically changed by a cardiac event. Viewers will meet survivor Carolyn Robinson of Rochester, NY, whose daughter saved her life when she had a heart attack; Annette Adamczak of Buffalo, NY, who has trained more than 18,000 people CPR; and The Knowles of Greece, NY, who performed lifesaving CPR on their 7-year-old son and are working to bring CPR training into schools for all students to learn.
Also on the program is Elisabeth Rohm from Law & Order and Star Jones, one of the original co-hosts of The View, who will share their personal stories of heart disease. LL Cool J ends the show with a message encouraging viewers to learn CPR.
A television broadcast like CPR in America is a ground-breaking initiative, and Second Opinion, the only regularly scheduled health program on public television, is well positioned for the task. With the help of the American Heart Association, CPR in America will teach as many people as possible the life-saving skill of Hands-Only CPR.
Note: The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation serves as a resource for the PBS series Second Opinion.
More about Second Opinion
Second Opinion is WXXI’s fast-paced and provocative healthcare series focuses on health literacy in an engaging, entertaining and accessible way. A patient story provides the backbone of each episode as full-time medical practitioner Dr. Peter Salgo leads a panel of medical specialists through the twists and turns of one patient's real-life medical mystery. Second Opinion airs Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and repeats Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV.
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