Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift now.
LA County Launches Online Training To Teach Lifesaving Skills
Brenda Hennessy spoke of the importance of learning CPR. Her son Cash Hennessy (right) was saved by CPR when he had a cardiac arrest while he was playing football. He was 13.
(
Jackie Fortiér/LAist
)
Topline:
Do you know how to apply a tourniquet, use a defibrillator or help someone who is overdosing? You'll be able to learn online and in-person. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is launching the Community Readiness Champions Initiative to train residents to save lives.
What can you learn? People can watch online trainings or sign up for in-person sessions to learn hands-only CPR (no breathing into the mouth), how to administer the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone, how to use a defibrillator, how to recognize substance abuse disorders and how to stop bleeding from a deep cut or gunshot wound.
Why is it important? The U.S. continues to see a staggering number of opioid-related deaths, driven in large part by the spread of synthetic opioids such as illicit fentanyl.
In L.A. County, seven to nine people die each day from overdoses.
Naloxone, which comes in a nasal spray and an injectable drug, can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and restore a person's breathing. A person's heart can stop during an overdose, so hands-only CPR is often used with naloxone to try to save the person.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
