Visit Anaheim today unveiled “Heart-to-Heart,” a giveback campaign for the residents of Anaheim, providing CPR education and training for the city’s future. Visit Anaheim, in collaboration with the American Heart Association (AHA), Orange County Division, will work to equip Anaheim Union District High Schools with American Heart Association CPR in Schools Training Kits™ along with training provided by AHA to teach life-saving tactics to high school students. “Heart-to-Heart” is part of Visit Anaheim’s larger giveback efforts to positively impact the local Anaheim community.
According to the Orange County Health Profile, heart disease is the leading cause of death in Orange County, Calif. Roughly 70 percent of cardiac arrests that occur outside a hospital, occur at home and 90 percent of those victims do not survive due to people around them not knowing how to administer CPR. Education and CPR training is the best defense in preventing the devastating effects of heart disease. By providing Anaheim high school students with CPR training, the hope is that more lives could be saved in Anaheim and Orange County.
“Visit Anaheim’s ‘Heart-to-Heart’ campaign is a way we can directly giveback to our local Anaheim community, which is a fundamental part of what we do as an organization,” said Jay Burress, president & CEO, Visit Anaheim. “The idea for the campaign was inspired by American Heart Association’s decision to host their 2017 Scientific Sessions at the Anaheim Convention Center after a 16-year absence. The program celebrates them and their mission to help educate and train our future to fight heart disease.”
Today, “Heart-to-Heart” was launched at Katella High School in Anaheim, one of two schools to receive CPR Kits in the program’s first year of implementation. The event was attended by Anaheim City Council Member, Stephen Faessel; Visit Anaheim President & CEO, Jay Burress; Anaheim High School Superintendent, Mike Matsuda; Executive Director of the American Heart Association, Orange County Division, Danielle Sapia and celebrity/actress Jennie Garth, who is an advocate of heart education.
“This training could not be possible without the incredible generosity of Visit Anaheim,” said Danielle Sapia, Executive Director of the American Heart Association, Orange County Division. “Our goal is to double, or even triple, the survival rates of people experiencing cardiac arrest.”
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